Bomb threat, scuffle on Atlanta-to-LAX flight; man detained

FBI agents and Los Angeles airport police detained a man who claimed he had a bomb and assaulted at least one crew member of a Delta Airlines flight bound for LAX from Atlanta, authorities said.

The unidentified man was aboard Delta Airlines Flight 110, which was approaching Los Angeles, when he got up and stated he had a bomb,  FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

There was an altercation with multiple passengers, who ultimately subdued the man with plastic ties. At one point he tried to exit through one of the aircraft doors after the flight landed at LAX.

There was no immediate word on injuries. Authorities are currently interviewing the man, whose motive and mental state were not immediately clear, Eimiller said. The plane is being swept for any possible explosive device.

The man could face federal or state charges.

--Andrew Blankstein

Read the latest on the bomb scare on Delta Flight 110.

Comments

[stewart]

heh heh multiple passengers huh? suppose he will sue for his injuries next?

[callie]

How scary!
Where did they get the plastic ties?

[Trojan Al]

Thank you President Bush for keepin America safe from Terrorist Attacks like this one. God Bless America!

[Mark]

To trojan al, what did George Bush have to do with this?!?! Was he on the plane? Actually, Bill Clinton did a better job of protecting us from terrorists as only one small plot was carried out in his eight years.

[brutha g]

Hey Trojan Al, was Commander Codpiece on the flight? The last time he was in the vicinity of a terrorist attack, he ran like a scalded dog. 1/20/09 can't get here fast enough!

[c earl jr]

Oh yeah...

Thanks Prez...

Best leader of any country ever throughout all of recorded history and even pre-history...

Thanks most of all for preventing Sept 11...

Good job...!

[Kathy]

Trojan Al, neither President Bush, nor his policies, had nothing to do with stopping this "terrorist attack" (which it wasn't; the man was a mentally ill person who didn't even have a bomb). Nor did the administration do anything in this regard over the last 8 years. There haven't been any terrorist attacks since 9/11, so they can't claim to have done anything to keep us safe. New staff at airports yes, but then through various tests/studies they've found that dangerous implements can get thru security anyway. Ports/luggage still not thoroughly screened. A lot of the so-called "terrorists" arrested in this country were wanna be's w/no hoping of getting anywhere, they're just used to whip up fear here (like the clowns who'd threatened to assassinate Obama before the Dem convention; they were just dumb kids who were easily caught). The exception is the "shoe bomber" who was again subdued due to passengers on a trans Atlantic flight.

[Rick A]

My girlfriend was sitting across the aisle from this clown. She heard nothing about a bomb, but said the guy jumped up and tried to open an emergency exit BEFORE the plane landed.

She said it was pandemonium, and when the plane landed, a bunch of people were out of their seats.

I don't think the passengers had the plastic ties.

[Dave]

My son was one of those subduing the man. From what I understand the man was hard to subdue. He did indeed claim he had a bomb. He tried to open the rear door more than once. This happened about three minutes before landing. The passengers who held him are real heroes. Of course, the guy didn't have a bomb. Neither George Bush nor Bill Clinton had anything to do with this in any way. But good old American initiative and bravery had everything to do with keeping the passengers and the plane safe! Ordinary folks doing extraordinary things!

A proud Dad in Atlanta.

[KHIAI]

Before TSA tries to claim anything. I thought TSA could detect explosives with x-ray machines..at least according to kip hawley. so what happened did many of your 72 layers fail?????

I cant wait for the TSA PR machine to spin this when they failed again and it was the passengers on board that subdued the nut. So why do we need all the TSA security theater when passengers will never cooperate and will take out any threats. that and cockpit doors are hardend so why do we need all this other BS that is a waste of Tax payer money & time with no benefit other then a bad attitude and a uniform that comes from outside the US and causes a rash because TSA screeners dont know how to take care or wash them properly

[Kirk]

KHIAI

From what I can gather, no bomb has yet been found, or there was no bomb at all. TSA can not detect a bomb when no bomb is present.

[SaMo]

Good thing TSA took away his liquids. Goodness knows what might have happened if this lunatic had been permitted to keep his shampoos and shaving cream.

What a huge joke TSA security is. Talk about ways to save $1.2 trillion: cut airport security back to pre 9/11 levels. As this incident demonstrates, the next time anyone tries to do anything funky on an airplane, other passengers will be quick to subdue that person. Locked reinforced cockpit doors mean the would-be terrorist can't get control of the plane.

[S Stein]

My son as well was aboard this flight. Goes to proove the point that we should cherish each second with loved ones. Thank God this was not the real thing, but it sure could have been a tragic situation.

[K. Walters]

I'm a F/a, Plastic ties/ hand cuffs are on every plane for just such an emergency. There are a lot of other lines of defence that passengers no nothing about to keep them safe. Hopefully it will stay that way. I don't think national security is in jeopardy talking about tie raps. ;)This will cost him though.

[M. Spickler]

Asher Roth, an up and coming rapper, and his band members were the people who beat up the guy on the flight. Check it out on MTV.com too!!!

[jim cummings]

Why was the man unidentified? Was he an american? Why would this information be held from the public?

[Christine]

The flight attendant that got pushed down is my father-in-law!!!