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August 23, 2006
Dutch Police Have Arrested 12 People
...who were passengers on a diverted Northwest flight.
Dutch police said Wednesday that 12 passengers were in custody after a Northwest Airlines flight bound for Mumbai, India, returned to Amsterdam when several people on board aroused concern.No formal charges have been laid, police said.
Flight 42 returned to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport after "a couple of passengers displayed behavior of concern," according to Northwest Airlines.
It is not clear what behavior sparked the response.
And how neat ~ they had an air marshal on board.
According to the official, the crew told passengers to follow the instructions of the air marshals after at least one member of the team identified himself as a marshal.At that point, the pilot diverted the plane.
UPDATE: A llittle more info emerging.
A U.S. government official said that some of the passengers had pulled out cell phones during the flight, and that some appeared to be trying to pass the cell phones to other passengers.In addition, some passengers unfastened their seatbelts while the light requiring they be fastened was still illuminated, the official said.
That was enough to cause U.S. air marshals aboard the flight to break their cover. Fight attendants ordered the passengers to heed the orders of the marshals, the official added.
An airline source in Amsterdam said the passengers who were arrested were looking into plastic bags and were busy with their cell phones.
Posted by tree hugging sister at August 23, 2006 02:40 PM