"FBI releases men pulled off plane at Oakland airport"

Friday, October 4, 2002

FBI releases men pulled off plane at Oakland airport
By Aaron Davis
The San Jose (CA) Mercury News


Four passengers of Middle Eastern descent who ``acted suspiciously''
Thursday night at Oakland Airport by paying cash for one-way tickets and
then switching seats after boarding their plane, prompted a brief FBI
investigation that delayed an America West flight.

All 83 passengers aboard America West Flight 624 were ordered off the
plane, which was searched after the flight crew and air marshals, who
happened to be boarding a nearby flight, agreed the four were acting
strangely.

The flight departed an hour late for Phoenix, Ariz. without the men,
whose identities were not released because they were not charged with
any crime. The men were interrogated by FBI agents for two hours and
then released.

America West paid for the four men to stay in a hotel and placed them on
the next morning flight to Phoenix when their stories checked out,
officials said. The men were apparently vacationing in the Bay Area.

``Case closed, pretty much,'' said Rosemary Barnes, an Oakland Airport
spokeswoman. ``Unfortunately there was suspicious behavior observed
before and after the men boarded the flight that triggered the response.
We're glad it's been resolved.''


 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?conf=DCConfID8

*****************************************