Aug. 25, 2006
Harrowing Day For U.S. Aviation
Six Incidents Caused Flights To Be Diverted, Evacuated Or Searched
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Play CBS Video Video Terror Scares Divert Planes Six planes were diverted due to various security alerts, including one in which a college student checked in a partial stick of dynamite from a mining operations tour. Bob Orr has more.
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(CBS/iStockphoto)
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A US Airways jet flying to North Carolina (pictured here, in background) was diverted to Oklahoma City after an air marshal subdued a passenger involved in an incident with a flight attendant, an airline spokesman said. (CBS)
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Interactive Trans-Atlantic Terror Plot Scheme to blow up U.S.-bound aircraft is foiled in U.K.; aviation security ratcheted up.
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Photo Essay Targeted For Terror British authorities thwart terrorist plot to blow up aircraft in flight between the U.K. and U.S.
Howard McFarland Fish, 21, was charged with carrying an explosive aboard an aircraft and was in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Federal authorities have determined that his actions were not acts of terrorism, ICE spokeswoman Luisa Deason said in a statement.
Inside Fish's checked bag, customs agents found a partial stick of dynamite and ammonium nitrate, more than enough explosives to bring down a plane. And in his carry-on bag they found a detonating fuse, reports CBS News correspondent Bob Orr.
Houston Fire Department Assistant Chief Omero Longoria said Fish told authorities he works in mining and often handles explosives. Longoria said federal officials were investigating whether the explanation was true.
Bill Waldock, aviation safety professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona, said the incident could have been disastrous and raises questions about security in overseas airports. Dynamite can be unstable if it's old, he added.
"You're in a pressurized airplane, you get a detonation in the cargo hold, it could blow a hole in the airplane big enough to bring it down," he said.
The dynamite was found during a luggage search in a federal inspection station at Bush Intercontinental Airport shortly after Flight 52 landed at about 6 a.m.
Marlene McClinton, spokeswoman for the Houston Airport System, said ICE officials and the FBI shut down the customs area and began questioning Fish, one of 173 passengers on the flight.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston said Fish, of Connecticut, would appear before a federal magistrate Monday. Carrying an explosive aboard an aircraft carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Fish is a psychology student at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., said Roger Clow, the college's director of communications. He declined to answer other questions about Fish, citing privacy concerns.
In other incidents:
The Manchester-to-Chicago flight, American Airlines Flight 55, was diverted to Bangor for security reasons, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Arlene Murray said.
The plane landed on a remote taxiway and passengers were taken by bus to a holding area, said airport manager Rebecca Hupp. State police provided bomb squad dogs, and local police provided additional assistance.
"The TSA learned of a reported threat to the aircraft while it was en route," TSA spokeswoman Andrea McCauley said, declining to give further details. FBI agents were interviewing passengers and crew, she added.
Marcinkiewicz, of the FBI, declined to elaborate on the source of the threat, or to say whether officials believed it to be legitimate.
Passengers said they had not seen any disruptions during the flight. Amy Chignell of Redditch, England, said she sat next to the man who appeared to be the subject of concern and did not see him do anything out of the ordinary, although he went to the restroom a few times.
Tom Roseberry of Seattle said passengers were told they were landing in Maine because a member of the crew was ill. But he said passengers began to suspect something else was going on when they saw a fighter jet zoom by.
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Add a Comment See all 16 Comments
- snflwr4real should consider getting a job and working instead of being a freeloader.
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- snflwr4real is a crazy person!
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- snflwr4real is a real wacko nut job.
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- Snflwr, stop starting the car with the garage door closed.
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- It is scary reading the comments from other people. I have noticed a lack of common sense in my area but had no idea how widespread it has become. The inability of people to use their common sense and think critically is not good for the future of the world.
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- alpha,
1. Hire any dolt from the street? And an entire flight crew? And the security guards? Yeah, that's ... reasonable.
2. How is this possible? Bush is the one to protect us, and the d@mn fool is making it look like he's protecting us. Well, there's only one way that's possible.
3. How did they know it wasn't terrorism? Uh maybe because you can't blow up anything with half a stick of dynamite in your checked luggage. Oh, and the fact that the plane landed safely might be another clue. Duh.
4. Yes, he was coordinated through security ... in ARGENTINA.
Here's a question you can't answer. If Karl Rove planned this entire thing, doesn't it seem more likely that they would have stopped the guy BEFORE the flight took off? I mean that's the only way it would look like he accomplished anything. Use your brain. If it's a conspiracy to make it look like Bush is protecting us ... well, shouldn't it look like Bush is protecting us? - Reply to this comment
- they want us scared
they got us scared
they want to hurt us capitalist checkbooks
they are hurting our captalist"s checkbooks - Reply to this comment
- handsknees-- "paranoia. obsession. compulsion. look into it."
No, you look into it. You have no choice!
(Actually, paranoia is a medical condition. Bush is a political pathology, invited by extreme disregard for the rule of law. In November, 2005, safe in the Oval Office, Bush shouted down the few GOP faithful who still dared to complain to him about his open breach of American Constititonal protections, "Quit throwing the Constitution in my face. It's just a GD!@# piece of paper.")
This bozo is ... a leader? Not of the United States of America, certainly. But, yes, a ringleader. - Reply to this comment
- RonnieHM-- Apparently, you have no idea about Karl Rove. Even a talented prankster (like Rove) knows enough to coordinate co-conspirators, even if his opinions flatline on any other test.
1. To create widespread panic, you need not succeed, after all-- the whole idea is to be caught! For this purpose, you might hire any dolt from the street, and make sure. Just keep it deniable, of course.
2. Yes, it is verrrry interesting that all this happens all-at-once, as it were. Just to remind us... "Bush Is the One who will protect us."
Actually, Bush is no security symbol, but an INsecurity symbol. Bush was the Chief Bozo in charge when 911 occurred, just having achieved a record number of days OFF the job back at the ranch in Texas.
3. So, how is it the authorities immediately knew Fish and his actions were not those of terrorism? Such a prompt declaration is not where such incidents normally end-- especially if you have the wrong national origin. Had Fish been named Hashmi, or had even a middle name like Akhmed, it would be the slammer incommunicado. This early "all clear" declaration is not the normal behavior of professional security, but of an official who has been told, "The kid is OK."
4. Fish and his baggage *already* should have been checked, and not once, but at least twice. Clearly (however natively stupid Fish might be), someone had to coordinate Fish through security. That such an incident might be accidental is almost off the charts with improbability. - Reply to this comment
- paranoia. obsession. compulsion. look into it.
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Author Thomas Friedman on Obama's Afghanistan plan and the war on terror.
