(합5.10) 항공 테러 오인 긴급출격
(안보) 항공 테러 오인 긴급출격
Tonight on World News, flight scare. The man who caused the military jets to scramble amid fears of terrorism on a plane. Why was he visiting an Al Qaeda suspect in prison? From ABC News, this is ABC World News with Diane Sawyer. It was a roller coaster night for everyone tracking the strange drama onboard a United Airlines plane from Washington DC to Denver. At first it looked like terrorism, then confusion. Now it’s become an international incident. The man at the center of it all, a diplomat from Qatar, who has been set free, but the purpose of his trip is also confounding어리둥절. Lisa Stark has been reporting this story for us all day.
As if this case couldn’t get more bizarre기괴한 희안한we now know the diplomat at the center of it Mohamed Al-Madadi who’s traveling to the super max prison in Colorado to check on the wellbeing of an Al Qaeda prisoner. That prisoner is also from Qatar. And such visits are part of a diplomat’s job. But it was the diplomat himself who raised terrorism alarms last night. It all started around 6:20 PM mountain time, some 40 minutes before landing when Al-Madadi headed to a first class restroom. Flight attendant smelled smoke and notified two air marshals onboard who confronted the man.
Al-Madadi identified himself as a diplomat, then said he’d been trying to light his shoes on fire. It may have been a joke. But the remarks set off a chain reaction. Within 10 minutes, FBI, Justice and Homeland Security Command Centers were notified. At 6:45, F-16 fighter jets scrambled from Berkley air force base to intercept the plane. At 6:50, onboard air force one aides notified the President as he headed for Europe. In Denver, 45 FBI agents mobilized. Some raced to the airport to meet the plane. “I actually didn’t feel scared, but I realized how serious it was.” “You know, we’re just fortunate. It wasn’t anything more.”
Al-Madadi had no explosives. He was just smoking in the bathroom. But what he did and what he said caused all that anxiety and it carried a price tag. It is hard to quantify. But for the two F-16s alone, $15,000. Not to mention the Denver bomb squad and hotels and meals for some passengers. Might Qartar foot the bill? We tried to find out more today about what Al-Madadi could possibly have been thinking. ABC has called repeatedly and left here emails today. We got no answers to our questions from the embassy or its law firm. Now as for Al-Madadi, we’ve now learned he’s just 27 years old. US officials expect he will lose job over this. But he does have diplomatic immunity and he will not be charged.