Re: Darwin claims one in Miami

"Popeye" <Popeye@Finalprotectivefire.com> wrote in message news:...
>
> "Charlie Hammond" <hammond@not@peek.ssr.hp.com> wrote in message
> news:3lhmf.369$ui.132@news.cpqcorp.net...
>> In article <kw1mf.16770$Mi5.11468@dukeread07>,
>> nitespark <nitespark@cox.net> writes:
>>>
>>>Charlie Hammond wrote:
>> ..
>>>> No, I am saying that if the air marhsals had NOT been present:
>>>>
>>>> - Nobody would have been killed.
>>>
>>>Not necessarily. ...
>>
>> Yes, necessarily -- in this case -- which is what is under discussion.
>
> If you and I are sitting in a plane, and the third guy in the row tries
> to light his sneakers, boy are -you- gonna be in for a rude surprise.
>
> I'll reach over and snap his neck while you're asking for another bag of
> peanuts, and no court in the land will convict me.
>
> No cognizant American on the planet will ever downplay a threat on a
> plane again after 9/11.

Man subdued on flight here


By Dan Nakaso and William Cole
Advertiser Staff Writers


Passengers and crew aboard a Northwest Airlines flight last night from Los
Angeles to Honolulu overpowered an unruly passenger who threatened a
sleeping baby girl, said passengers and officials yesterday.

"I was scared in the plane," said the baby's 30-year-old mother, who would
only give her first name of Sheila. "With everything that's happened since
Sept. 11, I was hoping that everything was changed. I'm relieved. But I
don't know how I'll feel tomorrow. It was a big stress."

About 10 minutes before Flight 91 was preparing to touch down last night in
Honolulu, the unidentified 37-year-old Mexican national burst toward the
cockpit of the plane and was subdued by four people in the business-class
section, according to passengers and the parents of the baby girl, who live
in Montreal, Canada.

The man was put in plastic "tough cuff" restraints aboard the plane and
detained for the remainder of the flight, said Scott Ishikawa, state
Department of Transportation spokesman.

"He was threatening to harm somebody else's infant," Ishikawa said. "It took
several people to subdue him. We don't have a reason why he allegedly wanted
to harm the infant."

FBI agents had the man in custody last night, Ishikawa said. The FBI did not
return telephone calls seeking comment.

The Boeing 757-300 left Los Angeles at 3:21 p.m. with 177 passengers and a
crew of two pilots and five flight attendants.

"During the course of the flight, one of the passengers was exhibiting
behavior of concern," Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhock said. "Attendants
and one passenger helped manage the situation."

The baby's 30-year-old father, who would only give his first name of
Jean-Francois, said the couple and their sleeping girl were seated in Row 16
against the cabin's bulkhead when the man moved from the back of the
airplane and sat down in a seat on the other side of the aisle, one row in
front of them.

"He was behaving very strangely," Jean-Francois said. "Stand up. Sit down.
He was not listening to the orders of the crew.

"He looked mentally affected. His mind was not all there. ... He had a (cell
phone) cord in his hand. We started to be afraid of that because it could be
a weapon. ... He said to the flight attendant that he wanted to kill the
baby."

For the next two hours, the man kept staring at the baby. The parents said
the tension in the cabin lasted for the rest of the trip across the ocean.

Flight attendants several times asked the man to move toward the back of the
plane, but he refused, the parents said. At one point, Sheila, who was
sitting in the aisle with the baby in her arms, switched seats with her
husband.

"Personally I'm upset that they left this guy with a weapon in his hand for
so long," Jean-Francois said. "We're quite upset with how they handled it.
If he really wanted to do something, he could have done a lot of things."

About 10 minutes before landing, the flight attendants suggested that the
parents instead move toward the back of the plane and they began to comply,
they said.

It was then that the man headed toward the front of the plane, Jean-Francois
said.

But two men seated in business class intervened and jumped on the man,
Jean-Francois said. Two others quickly joined in.

"They got him on the floor and tied his hands with plastic," Jean-Francois
said.

One of the men, who declined to give his name, said, "He started to head to
the cockpit and three of us took him down."

One of the men, who declined to give his name, said, "He started to head to
the cockpit and three of us took him down."

One of the men, who declined to give his name, said, "He started to head to
the cockpit and three of us took him down."

One of the men, who declined to give his name, said, "He started to head to
the cockpit and three of us took him down."

He said the unruly passenger had been holding what looked like a telephone
cord and was wielding it like a weapon.

With the man restrained, the pilot then came onto the plane's intercom
system about five minutes before landing.

"He said, 'We're very sorry for what happened' and apologized for the
trouble," Jean-Francois said.

The plane landed in Honolulu at 6:46 p.m., 15 minutes ahead of schedule.

Last night, the parents stood with their blond baby inside Honolulu Airport
as she slept in her blue stroller. She wore a pink shirt covered with a
purple sweater.

After speaking with FBI agents, they tried to begin their first Hawai'i
vacation, starting with two days on the Big Island.

"It's our first time," Sheila said.

Then she added sarcastically, "Welcome."

"We are very tired," she said. "It's been a long day."

The incident occurred two days after a federal air marshal shot and killed a
44-year-old U.S. citizen in Miami. Witnesses said the man claimed to have a
bomb in his backpack and had bolted frantically from an American Airlines
jetliner boarding for takeoff.

"Popeye" <Popeye@Finalprotectivefire.com> wrote in message
news:11pnc0s752au565@news.supernews.com...

> "He looked mentally affected. His mind was not all there. ... He had a
> (cell phone) cord in his hand. We started to be afraid of that because it
> could be a weapon. ... He said to the flight attendant that he wanted to
> kill the baby."

> For the next two hours, the man kept staring at the baby. The parents said
> the tension in the cabin lasted for the rest of the trip across the ocean.

Just another reason why they should ban babies, or at least prohibit them on
airplanes. Look what trouble they cause.

Two hours is nothing. I had a baby sitting behind me in business class on a
red-eye once that cried for four hours straight. Talk about tension. If
only I had a phone cord . . .

Greg Mossman wrote:
> "Popeye" <Popeye@Finalprotectivefire.com> wrote in message
> news:11pnc0s752au565@news.supernews.com...
>
>
>>"He looked mentally affected. His mind was not all there. ... He had a
>>(cell phone) cord in his hand. We started to be afraid of that because it
>>could be a weapon. ... He said to the flight attendant that he wanted to
>>kill the baby."
>
>
>>For the next two hours, the man kept staring at the baby. The parents said
>>the tension in the cabin lasted for the rest of the trip across the ocean.
>
>
> Just another reason why they should ban babies, or at least prohibit them on
> airplanes. Look what trouble they cause.
>
> Two hours is nothing. I had a baby sitting behind me in business class on a
> red-eye once that cried for four hours straight. Talk about tension. If
> only I had a phone cord . . .
>
>
Greg, I know you are just being silly - but unfortunately many people
who actually believe that way. Just look at nearly every social program
our government and politicians have crammed down our throats with none
(virtually) actually do anything to solve the problem. The passengers
on the plane solved the problem - again.

"Joe English" <joeenglish@isperhome.com> wrote in message
news:42e1f$439c3cbf$ce504822$18695@allthenewsgroup s.com...
> Greg, I know you are just being silly - but unfortunately many people
> who actually believe that way. Just look at nearly every social program
> our government and politicians have crammed down our throats with none
> (virtually) actually do anything to solve the problem. The passengers
> on the plane solved the problem - again.

Example: Public schools failing to teach English skills. (Or is that
skills to English? No matter, you see the problem?)

"Joe English" <joeenglish@isperhome.com> wrote in message
news:42e1f$439c3cbf$ce504822$18695@allthenewsgroup s.com...

> Greg, I know you are just being silly - but unfortunately many people who
> actually believe that way. Just look at nearly every social program our
> government and politicians have crammed down our throats with none
> (virtually) actually do anything to solve the problem. The passengers on
> the plane solved the problem - again.

That's because you and I view the problem from different angles and thereby
see a different problem altogether. You saw an unruly passenger. I saw the
cause of the unruliness and sought to remedy that by banning the baby, or at
least gagging it with a phone cord (you don't have to strangle the baby -
stuffing balled up phone cords in their mouths often makes them quiet down
just as fast). Another solution could be requiring parents to keep their
babies stowed in the overhead compartments and then insulating those to cut
down the noise.

Greg Mossman wrote:
> "Joe English" <joeenglish@isperhome.com> wrote in message
> news:42e1f$439c3cbf$ce504822$18695@allthenewsgroup s.com...
>
>
>>Greg, I know you are just being silly - but unfortunately many people who
>>actually believe that way. Just look at nearly every social program our
>>government and politicians have crammed down our throats with none
>>(virtually) actually do anything to solve the problem. The passengers on
>>the plane solved the problem - again.
>
>
> That's because you and I view the problem from different angles and thereby
> see a different problem altogether. You saw an unruly passenger. I saw the
> cause of the unruliness and sought to remedy that by banning the baby, or at
> least gagging it with a phone cord (you don't have to strangle the baby -
> stuffing balled up phone cords in their mouths often makes them quiet down
> just as fast). Another solution could be requiring parents to keep their
> babies stowed in the overhead compartments and then insulating those to cut
> down the noise.
>
>
and to think that the phone cord incident almost happened.

"Greg Mossman" wrote in message news:11poqijadqldhb7@corp.supernews.com...
> I saw the cause of the unruliness and sought to remedy that by banning
> the baby, or at least gagging it with a phone cord (you don't have to
> strangle the baby - stuffing balled up phone cords in their mouths often
> makes them quiet down just as fast).

Foolish Greg... Everyone knows that sweat socks are more appropriate for
that sort of thing...

> Another solution could be requiring parents to keep their
> babies stowed in the overhead compartments and then
> insulating those to cut down the noise.

Nawh... Checked baggage... <evil-grin>