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| Man Attempts to Break Into Airliner Cockpit |
| 2003-09-19 |
| A man attempted to break into the cockpit of an airliner flying from South Africa to Atlanta on Thursday, the FBI said. The incident was not a terrorist attack, said Theodore Jackson, FBI agent-in-charge in Atlanta. James Drake, a 53-year-old U.S. citizen, was arrested and faces federal charges including interference with a flight crew member, the FBI said. Drake was arrested in 1987 after a similar incident on an airplane, according to FBI spokesman Jeff Holmes. OK, add him to the "No Fly" list, please. The Thursday morning incident occurred about 2 hours before the South African Airlines plane was scheduled to land. Drake rushed to the front of the plane and began banging on the cockpit door with his hands, Holmes said. Two passengers restrained Drake and persuaded him to sit down for the remainder of the flight, which had departed from Cape Town, Holmes said. I’ll just bet they "persuaded" him. Score another victory for the Civilian Air Passenger Defense Force. The FBI did not immediately know Drake’s hometown. Authorities probably will ask for a mental evaluation of Drake, who was being held pending a hearing in federal magistrate court in Atlanta, Holmes said. Nuts can crash planes too. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #7 The General Militia in action! |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-9-19 3:31:31 PM |
| #6 The legal arguments alone will be fascinating... Hopefully by then, the lawyers will become the next target. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-9-19 2:28:00 PM |
| #5 ..As glad as I am to see this sort of thing happening, I am curious to see what will happen when the day comes were one of these nutcases is literally torn to shreds by the passengers and it turns out he really was just a garden variety fruitcake. The legal arguments alone will be fascinating... Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2003-9-19 1:45:48 PM |
| #4 "Persuaded" him to sit down? I would have pummeled the guy to the point that I'd have to be restrained myself. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-9-19 12:47:58 PM |
| #3 Maybe he was an undercover airliner security quality control officer. Carrying it to an alarming extreme, though........... |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-9-19 11:45:45 AM |
| #2 Thank God the days of passivity and appeasement are over! This guy was probably just a little screwy and not a real terrorist, but every incident like this broadcasts the message to the real terrorists that we're done playing nice! "Heather, my love, there's a new sheriff in town." |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-9-19 11:16:10 AM |
| #1 Another victory for the 93rd Volunteer Infantry! |
| Posted by: Mike 2003-9-19 10:16:20 AM |