Air marshals "not worried" aboard Flight 327
Air marshals say Annie Jacobsen was the real problem on the plane, at one time considered her a "danger"

Thanks to reader John Burgess for sending me the link this story on Los Angeles radio station KFI AM640, "Air Marsals Say Passenger Overreacted." The subject is the terror-ridden actions of Annie Jacobsen aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 327, Detroit to Los Angeles, on June 29. Ms. Jacobsens and her husband became "terror stricken" in her words by the presence of 14 Arab men on the plane, whom wrote that she and her husband decided were probably terrorists even before all passengers had finished boarding in Detroit. In fact, the men were musicians flying to a gig at the Sycuan casino near Los Angeles.

Reports KFI News:

Undercover federal air marshals on board a June 29 Northwest airlines flight from Detroit to LAX identified themselves after a passenger, "overreacted," to a group of middle-eastern men on board, federal officials and sources have told KFI NEWS.

The passenger, later identified as Annie Jacobsen, was in danger of panicking other passengers and creating a larger problem on the plane, according to a source close to the secretive federal protective service. ...

"The lady was overreacting,” said the source. “A flight attendant was told to tell the passenger to calm down; that there were air marshals on the plane."

The report also says that Ms. Jacobsen's husband Kevin, also aboard, told KFI News that after the flight he approached a man he thought was an air marshal. The marshal told Kevin, "You made me nervous," to which Kevin replied, "I was freaking out."

" 'We don’t freak out in situations like this,' " the air marshal responded.

Ms. Jacobsen's panicky actions so alarmed the marshals, says KFI's story, that

... the air marshals on the flight were partially concerned Jacobsen’s actions could have been an effort by terrorists or attackers to create a disturbance on the plane to force the agents to identify themselves.

Air marshals' only tactical advantage on a flight is their anonymity, the source said, and Jacobsen could have put the entire flight in danger.

The marshals were wondering whether Ms. Jacobsen's actions were in fact purposely designed to force them to reveal themselves.

The plane was met by federal agents at its gate after landing, but

Los Angeles [FBI] field office spokeswoman Cathy Viray said it’s significant the alarm on the flight came from a passenger.

"We have to take all calls seriously, but the passenger was worried, not the flight crew or the federal air marshals," she said. "The complaint did not stem from the flight crew."

Just as I said all along they would, federal agents verified the identity of the band, verified their engagement at the casino, monitored the performance and,

"We also went to the hotel, determined they had checked into the hotel," [Air Marshals spokesman Dave] Adams said. Each of the men were checked through a series of databases and watch-lists with negative results, he said.

Michelle Malkin points out that all the visas of the band members had expired. However, due to legal "wonkery," the expiration date of a visa does not necessarily coincide with the end of the authorized duration of the holder's stay in the US (see her post). Some visas expire upon entry to the US (that is, they can be used only once) while the authorized visit is obviously much longer. So while the band's members might have been here no longer legally, it isn't certain they were, at least from the information we now have.

More and more I am starting to wonder whether Annie Jacobsen's "Terror in the Skies, Again?" article is really a sandbag job actually intended to drive up traffic count to Women's Wall Street, for whom she writes. In short, maybe the piece was one well-executed con job: had you heard of WWS before? Neither had I.

Also, I now retract my previous claim that in fact "nothing actually happened aboard Flight 327. It's now obvious that something did: an American husband and wife panicked for no reason whatever and potentially put the flight in jeopardy.

In fact, I now think I was much too generous and tolerant of her in my previous posts. She should be deeply ashamed and should say so in her next piece on WWS. But I'm not holding my breath.

But what about the men getting up and walking up and down the aisles? They stood up when the plane was near landing! They went to the bathroom!

Well, it's pretty much the way people in Middle Eastern countries ride on airliners, including El Al, whose crews don't get upset about it (also here.)

by Donald Sensing, 7/23/2004 12:15:58 PM. Permalink |