Air marshal points gun at passengers

AP via Nando Times ^ | 8/31/02 | MARYCLAIRE DALE

[Slings and Arrows]

Air marshal points gun at passengers

Copyright © 2002 AP Online

By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press PHILADELPHA (August 31, 2002 10:39 p.m. EDT) - A federal air marshal pointed a gun towards passengers on a flight from Atlanta to Philadelphia for about 30 minutes Saturday while detaining an unruly passenger, travelers said.

Passengers on Delta Flight 442 said that one marshal kept his weapon pointed at the coach cabin while the other huddled over the detainee, who was released after the plane landed.

"He had the cockpit door to his back, and he is pointing his weapon toward the tail" said Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge James A. Lineberger. The marshal "had the cabin folks under siege," he said.

"If he would have accidentally fired, he would have killed somebody or hurt somebody," said passenger David Johnson, 51.

Federal prosecutors declined to charge the detainee after discussing the incident with the marshals, FBI spokeswoman Jerri Williams said Saturday. She wouldn't release his name or elaborate on the incident.

Transportation Security Administration spokesman David Steigman said air marshals "dealt with a passenger who was acting in an odd and obstreperous manner." He refused to say whether the marshal pointed a gun.

A Delta spokeswoman declined comment on the incident.

Johnson and his wife, Susan, of Mobile, Ala., said they noticed a man talking to a female passenger sitting in the row behind him about an hour after the flight began.

Shortly after noon, they said, marshals took the man into custody in the first-class section of the plane, which had 183 passengers aboard.

The government has had federal air marshals patrolling planes since the 1980s, but put hundreds more in the air after the Sept. 11 hijackings of four jetliners that crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a western Pennsylvania field.

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[Slings and Arrows]

I can't believe this hasn't been posted yet, but the search engine turned up bupkis. This air marshal sounds like a graduate of the Al Gore School of Gun Safety.

FReegards,
Slings and Arrows

[scab4faa]

It Has:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/742801/posts

[stevem]

How unruly is a passenger that isn't charged with anything? These days if I am going anywhere under about 700 miles (Minneapolis to Detroit or Minneapolis to St. Louis) I drive. I 'spect most people make a judgement as to threshhold for themselves. Likely within about 12 months, the taxpayers that no longer can stand flying will be asked to subsidize the airlines...all so we can "fairly" treat ALL passenegers as dirt.

As that Israeli security guy that shot that terrorist in LA a month or so ago said: (paraphrase) The US doesn't know anything about airline security. All they know how to do is annoy people.

[End Times Sentinel]

Transportation Security Administration spokesman David Steigman said air marshals "dealt with a passenger who was acting in an odd and obstreperous manner."

 

obstreperous \ub-STREP-ur-us; ob-\, adjective:
1. Noisily and stubbornly defiant; unruly.
2. Noisy, clamorous, or boisterous.

 

Kind of seems like exactly what the passenger was doing would be pertinant to the story, unless this is just another "Guns are bad... kay?" hack job.

Owl_Eagle

”Guns Before Butter.”

[Howie]

I figured it was a disease.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Oh my god! The guy was talking to a female passenger next to him? the nerve of that guy! I hope they fry his ass for that!

And people STILL ask me why I'm refusing to fly until the feds get their crap together...

[Chad Fairbanks]

err... behind him, I mean... oops...

[stlrocket]

It's a good that the "Gun" didn't do anything - all by itself!

There are rumors that "Guns" and "SUV'S" are secretly meeting and that drive by shootings are going to be worse than ever!!!!!

[doosee]

A federal air marshal pointed a gun towards passengers


I see a new federal TSA reg coming. "At all times, the air marshal shall point his/her weapon out the window or at own head"

[Chad Fairbanks]

There are rumors that "Guns" and "SUV'S" are secretly meeting and that drive by shootings are going to be worse than ever!!!!!

LOL!

[cmsgop]

I don't see what all of the Huff is about here....

One marshal to control the subject.

And the other marshal to (watch his back)They don't know who else could be on that plane. Could have been a diversion for all they know....

They did the right thing IMHO...

[John Jorsett]

Pointing a firearm at passengers under those circumstances is irresponsible. If he was that concerned, he could have kept it drawn and pointed up, bringing it to bear in less than a second if someone tried to run forward. What kind of training are these people getting?

[AnnaZ]

It's a good that the "Gun" didn't do anything - all by itself!

There are rumors that "Guns" and "SUV'S" are secretly meeting and that drive by shootings are going to be worse than ever!!!!!

 

LOL!!!

[Eagle Eye]

What kind of training are these people getting?

And you've been trained to handle this?

[strela]

Pointing a firearm at passengers under those circumstances is irresponsible.

Agree. If this incident occurred as described, the air marshal needlessly made a tense situation even more tense for everyone staring down the barrel of his weapon. He could just as easily held the weapon pointing straight up and brought it to bear if necessary in an instant.

This is real life, not "Starsky and Hutch."

[strela]

Sheesh .. ... he could have ...

And that's after one cup of coffee too.

[glc1173@aol.com]

"These days if I am going anywhere under about 700 miles (Minneapolis to Detroit or Minneapolis to St. Louis) I drive."

That's now the "break-even distance" at which flying is faster - if nothing unusual happens.

The amazing thing is that Americans still pay hundreds of dollars to be treated worse than inmates!

[MainFrame65]

I don't know - and this article does not adequately describe - what caused the air marshals to react. But by doing so, they blew their cover (assuming they had not already been identified by their haircuts and "dress code" uniforms described in an earlier article) and revealed their weapons. Those actions make them a target for any other potential hijacker on board.

In that circumstance, guarding their backs, with weapons drawn, is reasonable and proper, although menacing other passengers by pointing a gun at them is not. This is a safety and training issue that ought to be addressed, if it occurred as described.

[gargoyle]

...I disagree. The marshal would have to be pointing the gun at himself. Example, the picture of Gore looking down the barrel of an M16...

...Wish I had saved that...