From USA Today:
“American Airlines mechanic
pleads guilty to sabotaging September flight for overtime pay”
A longtime airline mechanic with
some possible links to Muslim extremists pleaded guilty Wednesday to sabotaging
a jetliner with 150 people aboard, causing the pilot to abort the flight just
before takeoff at Miami International Airport. Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani
entered the plea in Miami federal court. He previously admitted to
investigators that he committed the sabotage, insisting it was an attempt to
gain overtime to fix the American Airlines jet – which he did. “I do admit the
guilt,” Alani, shackled and wearing tan jail clothing, said through an Arabic
interpreter. Alani, 60, is a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Iraq who
had been an airline mechanic for 30 years. Prosecutors say he has a brother in
Iraq who may be involved with the Islamic State extremist group and that he had
made statements wishing Allah would use “divine powers” to harm non-Muslims. Investigators
said Alani also had Islamic State videos on his phone depicting mass murders
and that he traveled to Iraq in March but did not disclose that to the FBI
after his arrest. Despite that evidence, Alani was never charged with any
terrorism-related crime. He pleaded guilty to attempted destruction of an
aircraft, which carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence. Alani will likely
get less prison time when he is sentenced March 4. Court documents show the
sabotage involved gluing Styrofoam inside the nose of the Boeing 737 so that it
disabled a component pilots use to monitor things such as airspeed, altitude
and the pitch of the plane. Authorities say if the flight had taken off as
planned July 17 for Nassau, Bahamas, the sabotage could have caused a crash. Many
of Alani’s actions that day were captured on surveillance video and he was
identified by fellow workers. “(Alani’s) conduct is not representative of the
world-class work performed every day by our 15,000 Technical Operations safety
professionals,” American Airlines said in a statement. “Safety is the
foundation of everything we do, and we know our maintenance team takes that
responsibility seriously every day.” Alani’s attorney, Jonathan Meltz, said he
had led a “law-abiding life” before this incident and that he never intended to
harm the aircraft or the people aboard. Meltz said his sole motivation was
“just trying to provide for his family like most of us try to do.” As for
prosecutors’ previous statements linking Alani to terrorism, Meltz noted none
of that came up Wednesday. “This case is only about what you heard,” Meltz
said. Alani's employment was terminated by American in September after the FAA
revoked his mechanic's license in an emergency order.
^ Alani should have been charged
with domestic terrorism (and not because he is a Muslim or from Iraq.) If an
air passenger makes a scene - even when the plane is on the ground – they get
treated like a harsh criminal and man-handled off the plane, but a mechanic who
openly admits to sabotaging a plane -
which could have killed or hurt people – only gets regular jail time. That
makes no sense. Alani should go to jail for the maximum time allowed – 20 years
(which he won’t be) and then have his American citizenship taken away and sent back
to Iraq (preferably on a plane with the same sabotaged part as he did.) ^
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.