The Affidavit From the Flight Crew of United 923
…confirms they had every reason to divert into Boston.
A woman on a trans-Atlantic flight diverted to Boston for security concerns passed several notes to crew members, urinated on the cabin floor and made comments the crew believed were references to al-Qaida and the Sept. 11 attacks, according to an affidavit filed Thursday.
…The flight, with 182 passengers and 12 crew members, landed safely with the escort of two F-15s after the pilot declared an emergency on board because Mayo spoke of being in Pakistan and made other remarks the crew believed were references to building a bomb.
…According to an affidavit by FBI Special Agent Daniel Choldin filed in U.S. District Court in Boston, flight attendants noticed Mayo about 90 minutes into the flight because she was pushing against the aircraft bulkhead. When the attendant told her to return to her seat, Mayo said she wanted to speak to an air marshal and made statements about knowing that people wanted to see what was in her bag.
FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz confirmed Thursday that authorities found a screwdriver and an unspecified number of cigarette lighters in her bag, items which are banned under new security regulations. Marcinkiewicz also confirmed that matches were found Mayo’s bag.
…Later during the flight, according to the affidavit, Mayo asked a flight attendant: “Is this a training flight for United Flight 93?” The flight attendant didn’t know if she made a mistake because the flight was actually Flight 923, or if she was referring to Flight 93, the hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11.
During that time, she was “biting her fingers, rubbing her feet and in a constant state of movement. She appeared very agitated,” the affidavit said.
She wrote in a note and said to flight attendants that she had been in a country illegally, and later said she had photographs of Pakistan. Her U.S. passport indicated that on Aug. 15 she had left Pakistan and entered the United Kingdom, according to the affidavit.
Flight attendants summoned the captain, who spoke to Mayo. During the conversation, she made reference to there being “six steps to building some unspecified thing.”
“She made reference to being with people associated with two words. She stated that she could not say what the two words were because the last time that she had said the two words she had been kicked off of a flight in the United Arab Emirates,” according to the affidavit.
Then she dropped trou and proceeded to pee on the floor, among other things. Speaking for my chicken-hearted self, if I was sitting back in coach, I’d be like “put this thing on the deck before SHE does.” And wouldn’t object if somebody did some tub thumping in the meantime.
Humanity...or the Lack Thereof | tree hugging sister | 
August 17, 2006 12:39 pm
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What a fruit loop.
What I would like to know is how she got on that plane with those items.
Yes, I will be eyeing my fellow passengers very suspiciously today. I really, really don’t want to go to Boston.
Just beat the CRAP out of whoever tries it around you!
I’d help, but I haven’t gotten on an airplane (with the exception of two family emergencies) in, like, 20 years so I really shouldn’t be giving advice. But my heart’s with you!
This is why I prefer to drive even if it is long distance. Sure, I have to deal with absolute morons on the road but no one is peeing on my upholstery.
I’m going to have to look into crewing on a sailboat to Hawaii, big ships like the Luriline don’t go from here to there anymore, it’s all jet-flight. But the single-handed Transpac was already run in June, and the crewed race departed from LA…