On a Los Angeles to New York flight yesterday, a few people used the bathroom repeatedly. On a flight from Denver to Detroit, a few more people used the bathroom for a really long time. In both cases, the military intervened. Wait, huh?
Well it was the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, after all, and it’s better to be safe than sorry. NPR says that, in the case of American Airlines Flight 34 to New York, Attendants followed standard procedure and reported the potty issues pilots after passengers voiced concerns. The pilots never asked for intervention by government agencies, rather the FBI was monitoring the situation and acted out of caution.
The North American Aerospace defence Command scrambled two F-16 jets to shadow American Airlines Flight 34 until it landed safely at 4:10 p.m., the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement.
On the flight, the three passengers made repeated trips to the bathroom and some thought they were using hand signals to communicate, a law enforcement official said. The official was not authorised to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Two of the men were Israeli and one was Russian, the official said, adding that they were cleared and sent on their way.
The events of Frontier Airlines Flight 623 unfolded in a similar manner with three separate passengers, and F-16 jets dispatched by NORAD. In both cases, all six suspects were detained, questioned and cleared. So maybe next time nature calls while flying, you just hold it? [AP]
Image: AP