Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Sunday Morning

Man Onboard Flight 63 Tried to Ignite What he Said Were Explosives

Aired December 23, 2001 - 08:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: American Airlines' flight 63 was en route from Paris to Miami when troubles with a passenger forced an emergency landing in Boston. Authorities say the suspect is a 28- year-old man. He was carrying a British passport that turned out to be phony.

Reporter Garvin Thomas from CNN affiliate WHDH has our story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARVIN THOMAS, WHDH REPORTER (voice-over): "Unbelievable" is what that man is mouthing to our camera. And unbelievable his experience was. He is one of 185 American Airlines' passengers whose plane from Paris to Miami was diverted to Logan Airport after a flight attendant noticed something suspicious about another passenger. He was trying to ignite wires sticking out of his shoe with a match.

TOM KINTON, AVIATION DIRECTOR, LOGAN AIRPORT: We're told the flight attendants became alerted to a smell of sulfur, which is the match, and immediately took action when they saw what this individual was attempting to do, and literally tackled the individual and get into a, you know, a wrestling match in attempt to subdue this action. And apparently were successful in doing that. And other passengers joined in to subdue this individual. And he was ultimately strapped and belted into row 29 of the aircraft and was sedated by two doctors on board three different time en route to Boston.

THOMAS: One flight attendant, seen here at Mass General Hospital, was injured in the scuffle. She was bitten by the passenger in the hand. Once the plane was on the ground in Boston, closer examination of the shoes revealed detonator cord and C-4 explosives.

KINTON: We're told by the bomb teams on board that this -- this, obviously, if it indeed is an improvised explosive, that there's certainly enough there to do sufficient damage to an aircraft in flight, certainly. We then set up a removal by the bomb team of the shoes and isolated them on the airfield and disrupted them as per the procedure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: That report came from Garvin Thomas, of our CNN affiliate WHDH in Boston. The latest airline incident in Boston comes at the heart of the holiday travel time around the nation.

We get the latest reaction among travelers now from CNN's Kathleen Koch at Boston's Logan Airport this morning.

Kathleen, good morning to you. What are travelers saying to you? Are they a little bit gingerly stepping toward the gates, if you will?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, actually, the first thing I did this morning was speak with some flight crews for actually United Airlines, who were staying in the same hotel as I was. And as we were all boarding the shuttle to come over here to the airport, some of the flight attendants said they were very nervous, very concerned that -- actually, very anxious to get home and hug their children, hug their husbands.

This is just the sort of the thing that many of them had been fearing. Sort of waiting for the second shoe to drop after September 11. Now, again, at this point, we do not know yet if this was, indeed, explosives that were hidden in this man's shoes. But it certainly has caused a lot of concern here on the part of the flying public and the flight attendants.

O'BRIEN: Oh, yes, there are a lot of flight attendants out there who have actually enrolled in martial arts classes in the wake of all of this. Did you get the sense from them that they were thinking about leaving their jobs? How drastic is their concern?

KOCH: Miles, I didn't talk to them at that great a length, but there has been a lot of concerned expressed liked that since September 11. Flight attendants believing that -- that their airlines should give them all martial arts training, that that should be mandatory. That they should have stun guns, other weapons, in the cabin. You know, now that the pilots are really sequestered in the cabin. You know, you have these reinforced -- I mean in the cockpit, these reinforced cockpit doors.

Those flight attendants feel very, very vulnerable. And many of them have said if a man this size, six-foot-four inches tall, 200 something pounds, takes on a flight attendant, say my size, weighing 100 pounds, you know, it's very, very difficult. What can you do without the assistance of some of very great passengers, which these flight attendants luckily had.

O'BRIEN: What is very clear this morning is that the entire equation has changed inside aircraft. For years and years, the theory was, just mollify these hijackers or get to the ground safely and negotiate your way to safety. All that has changed in an instant from September 11. In a way, it's scary; but, also, in a way, I guess it's kind of reassuring, isn't it?

KOCH: It is, Miles. I think the passengers on the aircraft have, themselves, taken on the belief that this is part of their responsibility, to step in and intercede. Of course, there's a whole change now with this aviation security law going into effect when it comes to screening of carry-on bags, screening of checked bags. As we pointed out, this man did not check any luggage.

Now in the past, that has been sort of a red flag. When you're traveling overseas, when you're traveling, say, from Europe to the United States or vice versa. And in Europe, many of the airlines there will actually question passengers. There was a case -- I don't exactly recall the year, but it was since the Pan Am explosion in 1988, where a female passenger -- an Irish woman expecting -- she was traveling alone leaving Heathrow Airport and only had carry-on bags. And they questioned her extensively because they thought it was very odd, and explosives were found in her bag at that point. Apparently that had planted by -- by a Middle Eastern man who she was dating.

So, Miles, that tends to be a red flag. Why that wasn't caught in Paris we do not know.

O'BRIEN: Well, yeah, that -- that is the big question on my mind this morning. We do know he tried to get on that same flight on Friday and was thwarted in that effort. That story is unfolding; we'll get more on that as it happens. We'll bring those details to you. Kathleen Koch, in Boston, thank you very much -- Kyra.

KOCH: You're welcome.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the escort given that passenger jet is the Pentagon's answer to the threats in the sky.

CNN's Jeff Levine has more on that from the Pentagon.

Good morning, Jeff.

JEFF LEVINE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, there is concern, of course, that the skies over the United States are not as friendly as they once were. And that's why there's 24-hour-a-day surveillance, seven days a week, along the northeast corridor, particularly focusing on New York and Washington.

Now as for the F-15s that intercepted the American Airlines flight, they were heavily armed, of course. They are part of a unit stationed at Otis National Guard base on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. After being notified about the situation on board the American flight, the jets from this 102nd fighter intercept wing diverted the plane just as it entered American airspace.

The operation was carried out by the North American Aerospace Defense Command in conjunction with FAA. Some 100 fighter planes and 100 regular support aircraft are involved in these aerial surveillance missions. In fact, it's worth noting that the number of intercepts since the attacks in September has gone up dramatically in the months following the attacks. There were 90 intercepts, compared with just seven in the same period a year ago, Kyra.

So we can see that the surveillance is greatly heightened. There is a no-risk policy in effect from the U.S. Pentagon as far as the skies over America are concerned.

PHILLIPS: Sort of shifting gears for a moment, let's go back to Afghanistan. What's the latest there from the Pentagon, Jeff, with regard to these cave searches going on?

LEVINE: Well, the cave searches are underway. The so-called Eastern Alliance is being assisted by U.S. special forces. They're going through the rubble, through the caves, in the hope of finding Osama bin Laden. At this point, however, no one knows of his whereabouts; no one knows even if he's alive or dead. But the goal is to find some evidence, at least, to get some conclusion to this most important and vexing question of the Afghan war. But, at this point, as of now -- as of this morning -- we don't have an answer to that.

But we do understand that some of the Taliban leaders and tribesmen have agreed to surrender their weapons later today at a location known as Qalat. Some 12,000 Taliban may show up and turn in their weapons. That's it from the Pentagon, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Jeff Levine, thank you so much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com