Boston, MA – A London to Dulles International Airport in Washington, United Airlines flight 923 was escorted by fighter jets and diverted to Boston after what the pilot describes as three suspicious persons with suspicious items on board and a “passenger disturbance”.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
i case any of wondered if the women was an EDP here some more info
BOSTON (AP) — A woman on a trans-Atlantic flight diverted to Boston for security concerns passed several notes to crew members, urinated on the cabin floor and made comments the crew believed were references to al-Qaida and the Sept. 11 attacks, according to an affidavit filed Thursday.
Catherine C. Mayo, 59, of Braintree, Vt., was to appear in federal court later Thursday on a charge of interfering with a flight crew after disrupting United 923 as it flew from London to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.
The flight, with 182 passengers and 12 crew members, landed safely with the escort of two F-15s after the pilot declared an emergency on board because Mayo spoke of being in Pakistan and made other remarks the crew believed were references to building a bomb.
Federal officials quickly dismissed any real terror ties shortly after the flight landed. The scare came just a week after London authorities said they foiled a terror plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights.
According to an affidavit by FBI Special Agent Daniel Choldin filed in U.S. District Court in Boston, flight attendants noticed Mayo about 90 minutes into the flight because she was pushing against the aircraft bulkhead. When the attendant told her to return to her seat, Mayo said she wanted to speak to an air marshal and made statements about knowing that people wanted to see what was in her bag.
FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz confirmed Thursday that authorities found a screwdriver and an unspecified number of cigarette lighters in her bag, items which are banned under new security regulations. Marcinkiewicz also confirmed that matches were found Mayo’s bag.
Since a foiled terror plot surfaced in London last week, airports have tightened security in both the United Kingdom and the U.S. Liquids and gels have been banned from carry-on luggage, and even tighter restrictions are in place in Britain.
Later during the flight, according to the affidavit, Mayo asked a flight attendant: “Is this a training flight for United Flight 93?” The flight attendant didn’t know if she made a mistake because the flight was actually Flight 923, or if she was referring to Flight 93, the hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11.
During that time, she was “biting her fingers, rubbing her feet and in a constant state of movement. She appeared very agitated,” the affidavit said.
She wrote in a note and said to flight attendants that she had been in a country illegally, and later said she had photographs of Pakistan. Her U.S. passport indicated that on Aug. 15 she had left Pakistan and entered the United Kingdom, according to the affidavit.
Flight attendants summoned the captain, who spoke to Mayo. During the conversation, she made reference to there being “six steps to building some unspecified thing.”
“She made reference to being with people associated with two words. She stated that she could not say what the two words were because the last time that she had said the two words she had been kicked off of a flight in the United Arab Emirates,” according to the affidavit.
The captain and purser both believed that she was referring to al-Qaida, Choldin wrote.
About 35 minutes later, when she tried to go to the bathroom, the flight attendants directed her to a different lavatory. Instead, she pulled down her pants and urinated on the floor, Choldin wrote in the affidavit, which was based on his interviews and those of other federal officials.
At that point, the captain ordered her restrained. Two male passengers helped a flight attendant tackle Mayo and restrain her in plastic cuffs. She remained seated in the galley area of plane until the flight landed, according to the affidavit.
The outburst on the flight — just a week after London authorities said they foiled a terror plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights — prompted a massive security scare.
Gov. Mitt Romney said the woman was claustrophobic and became so upset she had to be restrained, and passengers said Mayo appeared to have emotional problems.
“She was in a frenzy,” passenger Martin Drinkwater of London told The Boston Globe. “She then pulled her trousers and knickers down and squatted on the floor.”
Antony Nash, 31, of San Diego, said he grew nervous watching the muttering woman seated near him, as she paced and made too many trips to the bathroom. The pilot did not make a general announcement to passengers of what was happening.
“I noticed F-15s next to the plane. I said, ‘Oh my God.’ And then we saw the emergency vehicles,” Nash said.
Terror scares garner particular attention in Boston because of Logan’s history. Members of al-Qaida hijacked two planes from Logan on Sept. 11, 2001, and flew them into the World Trade Center towers in New York.
Logan airport also was where an American Airlines Paris-Miami flight was diverted in 2001 when Richard Reid, the so-called shoe bomber, tried to blow up the plane. He was thwarted by attendants and passengers after he tried to light a fuse leading to the concealed plastic explosives in his sneakers. He is now serving a life prison sentence.
here is the last full report
BOSTON (Reuters) – A woman panicking from claustrophobia caused a Washington-bound flight from London to make an emergency landing in Boston Wednesday, sparking a major security alert.
Police and other officials said there was no apparent terrorist threat, but the incident set off a major security response a week after British authorities said they had foiled a plot to blow up planes from London to the United States.
United Airlines flight 923, carrying 182 passengers and 12 crew, was escorted by fighter jets to Boston after crew members confronted a 59-year-old U.S. woman who became unruly due to an apparent panic attack, officials said.
Nenette Day, a spokeswoman with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Boston, said the woman became disruptive on the flight and had to be forcibly restrained. She was arrested after the plane landed. Disrupting an international flight is a crime, said Day.
The woman was carrying hand cream and matches but was not a terrorist threat, said Christopher White, a Transportation Security Administration spokesman. Those items are not banned on commercial flights, he said.
“There are no known links to terrorism regarding this event at this time,” said White.
One media report carried on CNN and major TV networks, and later denied, said the woman had Vaseline, a screwdriver, matches and a note on the Islamic militant group al Qaeda.
The FBI’s Day said a search of her belongings produced no dangerous materials and no note from al Qaeda.
“Her carry-on bags subsequently were searched and matches were found in the bag as well as a gelatin-like substance but those items were not deemed to have any terrorist connection or or pose a threat to the aircraft,” Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney told a news conference.
Air passengers have faced heightened security since last week, when British police arrested nearly two dozen suspects in the alleged plot to carry out multiple suicide bombings on transatlantic airliners using liquid explosives.
Television broadcasts showed Boston airport rescue workers surrounding the plane while dogs sniffed for explosives in luggage laid out in lines on the ground. At least half a dozen police vans and cars were on the tarmac.
“This isn’t just an ‘I want another drink kind of thing,’ it was a disruption that caused them to divert the plane,” Day said. “We have to assess whether this is a mentally ill person or a physically sick person.”
Romney said the woman was from Vermont and put her age at 59. Officials had earlier put her age at 60.
——————-
what a difference 1 year can make lol
vin news
vin pics
“This isn’t just an ‘I want another drink kind of thing,’ it was a disruption that caused them to divert the plane,” Day said.
He declined to comment on a media report attributed to him that the woman had Vaseline, a screwdriver, matches and a note on the Islamic militant group al Qaeda. The FBI’s Day said none of those items showed up in searches of her belongings.
————————
did anyone here this one
“On some flights the only thing airlines are letting you take on are a passport and cash. The passport, of course, for identification and the cash, so they can sell you a bottle of water for $20.”
They should not allow arabs to fly, period!
and all men need examination no matter what age.
Hay Anon 12:12
look at the numbers, with so many EDP’s around its embarrassing to be normal!
the women of concern is 60 years old
ok guys from now on women over 60 will have to take a medical exam in the airport before boarding a plane
you feel proud to be an EDP?
I’d be embarresed!
a United Airlines spokeswoman said. A federal law enforcement official said
the woman had an anxiety attack.
well, if you are not allowed to have liquid Tylenol give here a pill
i am telling you think about it, EDP’s are creating most of the action around us (i feel proud)
A federal security official said there was no indication of terrorism, denying the passenger was carrying suspicious items.
The female passenger aboard United Flight 923 said she was claustrophobic and became very upset and got into some kind of confrontation with the flight crew, said George Naccara, federal security director for the Transportation Security Administration for Massachusetts’ airport.
OFFICIALS SAY PASSENGER HAD AL QAEDA NOTE, SCREWDRIVER, “VASELINE” AND MATCHES
here is some other related news
Another flight in London was boarded by 12 year old boy without ticket passport
woman had 2 letters one English one Arabic mentioning Al Qaeda
BOSTON (AP) — Fighter jets escorted a diverted London-to-Washington, D.C., flight to Boston’s Logan airport Wednesday after a distraught passenger pulled out a screw driver, matches, Vaseline and a note referencing al-Qaida, an airport spokesman said.
United Flight 923 landed safely, Logan airport spokesman Phil Orlandella said.
The flight, with 182 passengers and 12 crew members landed safely, UAL Corp. spokesman Brandon Borrman said. Borrman said a female passenger was spotted engaging in some “suspicious” activity, but he could not immediately say what the activity was.
State Police and federal agencies took control of the plane after it landed.
Passengers were seen coming off the plane on the tarmac and being loaded onto a bus. Orlandella said their carry-on luggage was being checked. The flight was from London’s Heathrow Airport to Dulles.
Last week, British authorities said they foiled a terror plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights from London to the United States.
United. Flight from London was diverted to Boston pax on board had a screwdriver and threating notes
vin news
vin pics
here is some of the reports i got about this
US SAYS UNITED AIRLINES PLANE EN ROUTE TO WASHINGTON DIVERTED DUE TO UNRULY PASSENGER
—
BOSTON (Reuters) – A Washington-bound United Airlines flight from London was diverted to Boston Wednesday after an onboard incident, and officials were searching the plane’s luggage, a Boston airport official said.
“There was a supposed confrontation on board. There may have been a banned item on board and they are now searching the luggage,” said Phil Orlandella, spokesman at Boston’s Logan International Airport.
—
BOSTON (AP) — A flight from London to Washington, D.C. was diverted to Boston Wednesday morning after the pilot declared an emergency because of a passenger disturbance, the airline said.
United Flight 923 with 182 passengers and 12 crew members landed safely at Boston’s Logan International Airport, United spokesman Brandon Borrman said.
A Logan spokesman said three passengers had a confrontation with the flight crew. State Police took control of the plane after it landed. All the passengers were being taken off the plane and their carry-on luggage was being checked, said spokesman Phil Orlandella
vin news
vin pics