Traverse City Record-Eagle

Disturbance on Flight

January 16, 2010

5:45pm: Man released after plane scare

By ALEX PIAZZA

Traverse City -- A California man questioned by authorities for allegedly acting suspiciously on a local United Express flight was released without charges.

The man, 28, was questioned by local police, Transportation Security Administration officials and FBI investigators for several hours Friday. He was released around 7 p.m., said Capt. Steve Morgan, of the Traverse City Police Department.

"He was totally cooperative," Morgan said. "He voluntarily stayed in there for interviews."

Police refused to release the man's name, but said he planned to visit family in Antrim County.

The man was detained after he spent about 15 minutes in the plane's bathroom, where a plastic flap apparently was dislodged sometime during the flight from Chicago.

Authorities and a bomb-sniffing dog failed to turn up evidence of explosives aboard the plane.

Police "did not find anything suspicious" behind the plastic flap inside the bathroom, Morgan said.

Passengers contend no bomb threats were made, which made some people question why the man was apprehended in the first place.

David Boyer was seated seven rows behind the man, and said he saw him walk into the bathroom. But Boyer, 47, a Chicago resident who has a house in Acme, called the situation a "colossal misunderstanding."

Boyer suggested the situation unfolded as it did because the California man appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent, though authorities would not discuss his race, or if it was a factor in the incident.

"We didn't know the ethnicity of the individual on the way to the call," Morgan said. "We went there and addressed it the best we could."

FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold would not say whether the agency will continue to investigate. The incident closed the local airport for more than a half-hour Friday morning.

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