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Gold9472
04-22-2006, 01:34 PM
Passenger's Bomb Threat Diverts Flight

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/22/national/main1533875.shtml

DENVER, April 22, 2006

(CBS/AP) A man who claimed to have a bomb aboard a United Airlines flight was subdued by fellow passengers as the California-bound plane was diverted to Denver International Airport, airport officials said.

Two F-16 fighter jets from Buckley Air Force Base scrambled to escort the plane as it flew into Denver Friday, according to Lt. Commander Sean Kelly, a spokesman for NORAD.

Three Secret Service agents traveling between assignments who happened to be on the plane helped detain the passenger, said Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren.

Authorities said Jose Manuel Pelayo-Ortega, whose age and hometown were not immediately released, tried to open a door on the Airbus A-320 en route from Chicago to Sacramento, Calif., and then claimed to have a bomb forcing the emergency landing in Denver.

The FBI said the incident began approximately two hours into its flight. Agents said Pelayo-Ortega started claiming he had a bomb on Board, reports Charlotte Fadipe of CBS affiliate KVOR-TV in Sacramento.

"He went straight to the exit door," passenger Keith Pasquini said of Pelayo-Ortega, adding that the man shouted that he wanted to die. "The flight attendant shouted at him in aloud voice to get away from the door and he tried turning the lever, but the door wouldn't open."

The apparatus that could ultimately have led to the plane with 138 passengers and six crew members being shot down, put in place after 9-11, was fully operational Friday, with agencies that included the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Homeland Security on an open phone line monitoring the flight.

Had the plane "been judged as a threat by the highest levels of our government, they could make the decision to have the plane shot down," said Kelly.

President Bush would ultimately make the decision.

A "shoot-don't shoot" scenario didn't develop because the plane was following all FAA instructions. One of the last resorts would have included the fighter pilots either talking to or attempting to talk to the pilot of the airliner, which didn't happen Friday, Kelly said

The fighter jets out of Buckley Air Force Base east of Denver "followed to make sure nothing untoward was going to happen," Kelly said.

Since Sept. 11, fighters have been scrambled hundreds of times, though figures weren't immediately available on how many have been sent to intercept commercial jetliners like the ones that crashed into the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

The Boeing 767 airliner, carrying 183 passengers and 14 crew members on which would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid was on in December 2001, was escorted to Boston by two fighter jets.

With the fighter jet escort, the United plane landed at about 4:30 p.m. in a remote area of the airport where it was searched. Passengers were bused to the terminal and questioned by authorities and Pelayo-Ortego was arrested.

No one aboard Flight 735 were injured, said United spokesman Brandon Borrman.

Pelayo-Ortega was in a Denver jail awaiting federal charges. FBI spokeswoman Monique Kelso said he will be charged on Monday.

Kelso said authorities searched the aircraft for explosives and re-screened luggage as well as the passengers before they were allowed to re-board the plane, which left for its original destination at about 7:30 p.m.

Gold9472
04-22-2006, 01:36 PM
Air Force scrambles planes after United flight diverted to Denver

http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California2/Flight_Diverted_234110CA.shtml

By MEGAN McCLOSKEY
The Associated Press
4/22/2006

With three Secret Service agents aboard and the pilots fully in control of a United Airlines jetliner being diverted to Denver, two F-16 fighter jets scrambled to intercept the flight merely escorted the plane into Denver International Airport.

But the apparatus that could ultimately have lead to the plane with 138 passengers and six crew members being shot down put in place after 911 was fully operational Friday, with agencies that included the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Homeland Security on an open phone line monitoring the flight.

Had the plane "been judged as a threat by the highest levels of our government, they could make the decision to have the plane shot down," said Lt. Commander Sean Kelly, a spokesman for NORAD, a U.S.-Canadian military command based outside Colorado Springs that monitors missiles, aircraft and space objects and warns of threats.

President Bush would ultimately make the decision.

Authorities said Jose Manuel Pelayo-Ortega whose age and hometown were not immediately released tried to open an door on the Airbus A-320 en route from Chicago to Sacramento, Calif., and then claimed to have a bomb forcing the emergency landing in Denver.

"Had he opened the door, we'd all be dead," passenger Donna Bell of Visalia, Calif., told the Sacramento Bee.

Fellow passengers on the plane subdued the man and three Secret Service agents on board heading between assignments helped detain him, said Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren. "That saved us," Ian Grossman of Chicago told the Bee. "You don't know what will happen if a guy like that is loose in the cabin."

The Bee reported that passenger Joe Pena, a senior airman at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, Calif., described the incident as like a bar fight. "I heard a bunch of commotion, and I heard somebody yell 'What are you doing' and 'Get down,' then I saw the guy put into a chokehold, put on his back and pinned down so he couldn't move," Pena said in Sacramento, after hugging his tearful wife, Candy.

President Bush, who is protected by the Secret Service, on Saturday was scheduled to tour a fuel-cell technology plant in West Sacramento, Calif.

A "shoot-don't shoot" scenario didn't develop because the plane was following all FAA instructions. One of the last resorts would have included the fighter pilots either talking to or attempting to talk to the pilot of the airliner, which didn't happen Friday, Kelly said

The fighter jets out of Buckley Air Force Base east of Denver "followed to make sure nothing untoward was going to happen," Kelly said.

Since Sept. 11, fighters have been scrambled or if already airborne diverted 2,300, said Kelly. The Transportation Security Administration said it did not have numbers on how many flights have been diverted.

The Boeing 767 airliner, carrying 183 passengers and 14 crew members on which would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid was on in December 2001, was escorted to Boston by two fighter jets.

With the fighter jet escort, the United plane landed at about 4:30 p.m. in a remote area of the airport where it was searched. Passengers were bused to the terminal and questioned by authorities and Pelayo-Ortego was arrested.

No one aboard Flight 735 were injured, said United spokesman Brandon Borrman.
Pelayo-Ortega was in a Denver jail awaiting federal charges. FBI spokeswoman Monique Kelso said he will be charged on Monday.

Kelso said authorities searched the aircraft for explosives and re-screened luggage as well as the passengers before they were allowed to re-board the plane, which left for its original destination at about 7:30 p.m.

Gold9472
04-22-2006, 01:58 PM
Fighter Jets intercept United Airlines Flight
No Drills to Confuse NORAD this time

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/april2006/220406_b_intercept.htm

Associated Press | April 22 2006

Comment: No Presidential orders needed, the scrambling of fighter jets in this situation is automatic and has been for decades. So where were the F-16s on 9/11? Why were three airliners allowed to hit their targets despite being known to be hijacked?

Related: Wargames Were Cover For the Operational Execution of 9/11 (http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/september2004/080904wargamescover.htm)

A passenger who claimed to have a bomb aboard a United Airlines flight was subdued by passengers as the California-bound plane was diverted to Denver International Airport, airport officials said.

Two F-16 fighter jets from Buckley Air Force Base scrambled to escort the plane as it flew into Denver Friday, according to Lt. Commander Sean Kelly, a spokesman for NORAD.

"They followed to make sure nothing untoward was going to happen," he said.

Jose Manuel Pelayo-Ortega was arrested after the plane landed around 4:30 p.m., FBI spokeswoman Monique Kelso said.

Three Secret Service agents traveling between assignments who happened to be on the plane helped detain the passenger, said Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren.

After the A-320 Airbus landed, it taxied to a remote part of the airport where the passengers got off and were bused to the terminal.

None of the 138 passengers or six crew members was injured, airport spokesman Chuck Cannon said. The flight was headed to Sacramento, Calif., from Chicago.

Authorities searched the aircraft for explosives and re-screened luggage and passengers before they reboarded the plane, which took off for its original destination around 7:30 p.m., Kelso said.