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Air Marshals Stop Shoe Bomb Attempt On United 663 Washington to Denver
At least one federal air marshall onboard United Airlines flight #663 from Washington DC to Denver on Wednesday night stopped a citizen of Qatar as he attempted to light his shoes on fire. (flightaware.com) Altro...
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As it turns out, the "gentleman" was an individual with diplomat status from Qatar, who was sneaking a smoke in the lavatory. When asked about it, he "joked" that he was trying to set his shoes on fire. Extremely bad judgment for which I understand he has been "rewarded" by his government with expulsion from the US.
Some people just don't pay attention.
I've been through various US airports where recorded announcements inform us that the TSA officially do not have a sense of houmour, and they will not laugh at any of your jokes, so don't be a smart-ass.
And before any flight the SLC are told not to sneak into the boga for a crafty ciggy.
Seems the culprit in this case figured it didn't apply to him:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7092481.ece
I've seen a couple of other reports on this story, with varying emphasis on different aspects.
At the time, before all facts were known, the Air Marshalls and Flight Crew had to assume the worst and follow Procedures.
Once the flight was safely on the ground and the situation had become clear though, it seems that some of The Media chose to cherry-pick facts to justify Dramatic Scaremongering Headlines; Why let the truth get in the way of a good story.
The Heroic Air Marshals did not stop the bloke, he'd already done what he was doing before they collared him. And there was no Bomb in his Shoe, he just made a glib comment.
In the air it might have seemed that lives were at risk, but by the time this went to press it was obvious that after being a bit naughty a passenger made an Inappropriate Remark. A minor Drama had been hyped up into a major Crisis, Disaster Narrowly Averted.
Any chance of a little less hysteria please.
I've been through various US airports where recorded announcements inform us that the TSA officially do not have a sense of houmour, and they will not laugh at any of your jokes, so don't be a smart-ass.
And before any flight the SLC are told not to sneak into the boga for a crafty ciggy.
Seems the culprit in this case figured it didn't apply to him:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7092481.ece
I've seen a couple of other reports on this story, with varying emphasis on different aspects.
At the time, before all facts were known, the Air Marshalls and Flight Crew had to assume the worst and follow Procedures.
Once the flight was safely on the ground and the situation had become clear though, it seems that some of The Media chose to cherry-pick facts to justify Dramatic Scaremongering Headlines; Why let the truth get in the way of a good story.
The Heroic Air Marshals did not stop the bloke, he'd already done what he was doing before they collared him. And there was no Bomb in his Shoe, he just made a glib comment.
In the air it might have seemed that lives were at risk, but by the time this went to press it was obvious that after being a bit naughty a passenger made an Inappropriate Remark. A minor Drama had been hyped up into a major Crisis, Disaster Narrowly Averted.
Any chance of a little less hysteria please.
a really over the top headline...if it isn't the media fouling things up, it's the uninformed posting items like this.
Gossip. "Ignorance is the greatest evil."
It is too bad that Flight Aware is adding to the hype. Generally, fact works better for me than unsubstantiated rumor.
BTW, news reports this morning are that the diplomat is being recalled by his government, so no expulsion will take place.
BTW, news reports this morning are that the diplomat is being recalled by his government, so no expulsion will take place.
Well, that's what I meant by "he has been "rewarded" by his government with expulsion from the US." in other words, our government wasn't tossing him out.
