Possible terrorist dry-run in the US?

[Soundguy]

Not sure if this article has been posted elsewhere here:

AIRLINE BIZ Blog | The Dallas Morning News

This was on AirTran out of Atlanta. US Airways was considered the safest American airline from a terrorism perspective due to being boycotted by these folk but I'm not sure if the boycott is still in place.

 

[Mal]

I stopped reading at the "I was in first class coming home. Eleven muslim men got on the plane in full attire. " bit.

Sounds hoaxish to me...

 

[Mal]

And Snopes has a write-up:

snopes.com: Flight 297

The article leans towards "hoax", but concludes with "mixture".

 

[zzyss]

Sounds to me like the Texan guy embellished his side of the story a little bit...

Out of curiosity, can somebody that's flown extensively in the Middle East comment on whether any of this is "common" behaviour in other cultures? I know from my own experience that for instance that on domestic flights within China, people are standing up practically as soon as the plane touches the tarmac, whereas that'd be a complete no-no anywhere else.

Just wondering whether the Muslim passengers were simply unaware of, or consciously ignoring the social customs of their host country, moreso than being terrorists per se.

 

[serfty]

The story found it's way to FT.

If this is to be believed then something did happen:

http://espositosmusings.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/air-tran-flight-297-incident1.pdf

 

[harvyk]

I highly doubt it. Terrorists do what they can to blend in, as it's hard to pull off and attack when law enforcement eyes are on you.

I'd say the 13 or so are simply idiots, coupled with paranoia from the other pax. Lets face it, those guys are now no doubt on airline watch lists. They probably wouldn't be able to sneeze on an airline without a note been taken down somewhere.

A dry run may be spotted by officials (eg sky marshalls or specifically trained FA's), but I doubt another pax would ever be able to pick it.

 

[Soundguy]

Terrorists do what they can to blend in, as it's hard to pull off and attack when law enforcement eyes are on you.

In the most recent terrorist attack in the US Nidal Hasan went out of his way not to 'blend in' on the day he committed mass murder.

Maurice Clemmons, who some say converted to Islam whilst in prison, deliberately targeted and killed police & clearly wasn't concerned about the eyes of the law being on him.

I thought if you were on a 'watch list' you would not be able to fly? Or is it just that they watch you more now when you do fly? Seems they put these guys back on the plane anyway.

 

[pblackm]

Some of it;

Yes, there is a race to stand and get out which often starts as the plane approaches the gate. At this point the cabin crew have little authority. It should be noted that the great majority of people that I have met or been near in the ME are very polite.

Arabic is an animated language. Some people talk loudly (but that happens in every country), and conversation can sometimes sound aggressive when it actually it is not.

Sounds to me like the Texan guy embellished his side of the story a little bit...

Out of curiosity, can somebody that's flown extensively in the Middle East comment on whether any of this is "common" behaviour in other cultures? I know from my own experience that for instance that on domestic flights within China, people are standing up practically as soon as the plane touches the tarmac, whereas that'd be a complete no-no anywhere else.

Just wondering whether the Muslim passengers were simply unaware of, or consciously ignoring the social customs of their host country, moreso than being terrorists per se.

 

[harvyk]

In the most recent terrorist attack in the US Nidal Hasan went out of his way not to 'blend in' on the day he committed mass murder.

But in the days prior he blended in quite nicely.

A quote by military activist, Selena Coppa said "This man was a psychiatrist and was working with other psychiatrists every day and they failed to notice how deeply disturbed someone right in their midst was."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nidal_Hasan#cite_note-Telegraph_3-71

I'm pretty sure that had they known the guy was going to go postal they'd have done something about it before the day...

Terrorists don't really care about people knowing who they are during the event itself. It's the days leading upto the event they keep a low profile.

 

[sampson]

I highly doubt it. Terrorists do what they can to blend in, as it's hard to pull off and attack when law enforcement eyes are on you.


A dry run may be spotted by officials (eg sky marshalls or specifically trained FA's), but I doubt another pax would ever be able to pick it.

Afroze or Afroz blended in, had a jewish defacto in Hampton Victoria and blended in. Civilians at Moorabin were suspicious - before 9/11 - of his lack of interest in take offs and landings , and reporteed their suspicions. His intended flight here, on 12 September, was coincidentally 11 Sept in the US. So I think civilians can spot things. The idiot is charge told me no one can prove anything without bodies. Last I heard the Pakistanis jailed himfor terrorism.

 

[sampson]

Couldn't happen here could it?:evil:

AN INDIAN man was jailed in Bombay yesterday for plotting to fly passenger jets into the House of Commons and Tower Bridge in London on September 11, 2001.
Mohammed Afroze was sentenced to seven years after he admitted that he had a role in an al-Qaeda plot to attack London, the Rialto Towers building in Melbourne and the Indian Parliament.
His lawyer has claimed, however, that the confession was “forcefully taken” and that Afroze was tortured by Indian police.
Afroze admitted that he and seven al-Qaeda operatives planned to hijack aircraft at Heathrow and fly them into the two London landmarks. The suicide squad included men from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Afroze said. They booked seats on two Manchester-bound flights, but fled just before they were due to board.
Afroze returned to India in October 2001. He was arrested in Bombay and charged with “committing depredation on territories at peace with India”.
Mobin Solker, his lawyer, pledged to challenge the conviction, saying: “The confessional statement was taken in custody where Afroze was pressurised and tortured . . . My client, who was pursuing a career in flying, happened to be a Muslim and happened to come back to India not long after September 11.”
Mr Solker said that police from Britain, Australia and the US had been to India to see evidence against Afroze, but had not requested extradition.

 

[BAM1748]

Couldn't happen here could it?:evil:

AN INDIAN man was jailed in Bombay yesterday for plotting to fly passenger jets into the House of Commons and Tower Bridge in London on September 11, 2001.
Mohammed Afroze was sentenced to seven years after he admitted that he had a role in an al-Qaeda plot to attack London, the Rialto Towers building in Melbourne and the Indian Parliament.
His lawyer has claimed, however, that the confession was “forcefully taken” and that Afroze was tortured by Indian police.
Afroze admitted that he and seven al-Qaeda operatives planned to hijack aircraft at Heathrow and fly them into the two London landmarks. The suicide squad included men from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Afroze said. They booked seats on two Manchester-bound flights, but fled just before they were due to board.
Afroze returned to India in October 2001. He was arrested in Bombay and charged with “committing depredation on territories at peace with India”.
Mobin Solker, his lawyer, pledged to challenge the conviction, saying: “The confessional statement was taken in custody where Afroze was pressurised and tortured . . . My client, who was pursuing a career in flying, happened to be a Muslim and happened to come back to India not long after September 11.”
Mr Solker said that police from Britain, Australia and the US had been to India to see evidence against Afroze, but had not requested extradition.

Yes, leave him there, some other countries have "better" ways to deal with things than our own system.

 

[Moody]

Yes, leave him there, some other countries have "better" ways to deal with things than our own system.

Yes - Australia merely deports the innocent. Other countries have even less respect for the "burden of proof" requirement, bless them.

 

[drron]

Yes - Australia merely deports the innocent. Other countries have even less respect for the "burden of proof" requirement, bless them.

Moody I love your trusting nature.always there to stick up for the underdog.This time though I think you are spot on.From the Age archives-
"The reality: Afroz was released by an Indian court on indefinite bail in April, 2001 after Indian police failed to bring charges. As part of the investigation, Indian intelligence agents flew to Australia in February 2001 to check out his claims. It was reported after his release that New Delhi police believed Mumbai police made up the sensational claims allegedly made by Afroz. ASIO said in its 2002 annual report that none of the allegations made by Afroz that related to Australia could be corroborated and they were assessed "to be lacking in credibility"."
Analyse this - theage.com.au

 

[sampson]

They should use psych facilities to help protect people from trying their hand at being pilots. (Gitmo should've been run by the Dept of Health Community Services, Mr President. )

His lessons at Moorabin were before 9/11 iirc, 'raised eyebrows' and were reported to a clown who said you 'can't prove anything without bodies'. Anyway, I think I'd like a few burly Texans on my flight even if a few Muslims vociferously refused, for 'cultural reasons', to take 'orders' from a female FA.

 

[Mal]

Airtrain has even debunked this now:

Inside AirTran BREAKING NEWS UPDATE - AirTran 297- Anatomy of an Urban Legend

After conducting additional research into this situation, we have verified, according to flight manifests (legally binding documents) that the individual that allegedly created a first-hand account of events on-board AirTran Airways flight 297, a Theodore Petruna, was never actually on-board the flight.

According to all available records, Mr. Petruna’s trip originated from Akron-Canton, Ohio (CAK) on AirTran flight 205. This flight arrived at the gate in Atlanta at 5:06 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Flight 297, the flight which Mr. Petruna allegedly wrote a first-hand account of, originally pushed back from its gate in Atlanta at 4:40 p.m. EST, a full 26 minutes before flight 205 arrived at the gate in Atlanta making this flight connection impossible.

While Mr. Petruna was originally scheduled to begin his journey on AirTran flight 202 from CAK and connect to flight 297 in Atlanta he did not make that original flight.

So what a funny joke Theodore Petruna. What a big man fighting all those "terrywrists".

 

[bambbbam2]

More from snopes

snopes.com: Flight 297

"On 4 December 2009, AirTran issued a point-by-point rebuttal of the original account, maintaining (among other statements) that the members of the group in question were dressed like any other passenger (rather than in "Muslim attire"), that there were no reports of their screaming insults at crew members, that there were no reports of any of them standing up in a threatening manner, that there were no physical altercations between any passengers, that the group's bags were not removed from the plane, that none of the group members was determined to pose a security threat, that there was no TSA agent on the plane, and that no passenger was refused permission to get off the plane"