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Home Front: WoT
Mechanic gets 3 years for sabotaging American Airlines plane in Miami
2020-03-05
[NY Post] A former American Airlines mechanic was sentenced to more than three years in prison for tampering with a plane packed with 150 passengers set to take off to the Bahamas.

Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani, 60, was sentenced to 37 months behind bars Wednesday after pleading guilty in December to using a piece of foam to sabotage a Boeing 737 at Miami International Airport because he was upset over the airline's stalled union contract negotiations, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida.
rriiiigghht
Alani, a naturalized citizen originally from Iraq, had admitted to federal investigators that he doctored the plane's air data module system – which relays critical data like aircraft speed and pitch to pilots – in a bid to obtain more overtime work, court documents show.

The mechanic insisted to federal air marshals that he intended "not to cause harm to the aircraft or its infidels passengers."

Alani, of Tracy, California, used super glue to hold the foam in place prior the flight's scheduled take off, which was ultimately aborted. None of the 150 passengers or flight crew on the jetliner were injured since the plane never got off the ground, prosecutors said.

A judge found no evidence that Alani had links to ISIS, allegations that arose in September after prosecutors said they found terror propaganda videos on his cellphone.
 "Nothing to see here. Go about your business, citizen"
"The indictment doesn't charge anything related to terrorism or terrorist activity," US District Judge Marcia Cooke said during Alani's sentencing in Miami. "I don't see anything."

Federal investigators ultimately found "no linkage" between Alani and extremist groups, Assistant US Attorney Randy Hummel said.
*cough* Bullshit *cough*
Related:
Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani: 2019-12-19 American Airlines mechanic with 'ties to ISIS' pleads guilty to sabotaging a plane with 150 passengers on board by gluing Styrofoam inside the aircraft's nose
Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani: 2019-09-19 Go Figure - Mechanic who tampered with jetliner has ties to ISIS: feds
Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani: 2019-09-06 Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani no longer employed by American Airlines
Posted by:Frank G

#6  Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

"The pilots realized something was wrong as they prepared to head to the departure runway."

Looks like Mr. Alani not only tampered with the aircraft ADM, he also, per the article cited, verified that the results of his handiwork would be discovered by the PIC as a function of the pre-taxi prep / checklist.

If true, there was never any threat to the aircraft occupants.
Posted by: Anomalous Sources   2020-03-05 21:46  

#5  Only three years ? They must have thought there's no point in the FAA or DHS keeping these sasquatches away from airliners if we're going to allow hijabs and sunnah beards inside hangars with $ 35 m fighter jets with WMDs.
Posted by: Dron66046   2020-03-05 17:12  

#4  Betcha there's some sophisticated deal-making here that naifs like y'all wouldn't understand. "Give us your crazy cabdriver cousin caliph and we'll get you off easy. But from now on, we OWN you, pal." "By Allah, no crazy cabdriver is safe while I am free!" "Atta boy!"
Posted by: Percy Phoger1822   2020-03-05 16:03  

#3  ...well, at least official work. Officer Crockett to the courtesy phone.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2020-03-05 14:53  

#2  Looks like the FAA has revoked his A&P license so no more airplane work for him.....ever
Posted by: TZSenator   2020-03-05 14:05  

#1  Three years for the attempted murder of 150 people? Seems a tad on the light side, especially with whatever differential they give you nowadays for good behavior.
Posted by: SteveS   2020-03-05 13:07  

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