An update to my story from my last week in which passengers onboard an American Airlines 777-300ER to Miami were forced to place their hands on their head and ordered not to take pictures for the final hour of the flight. We now have further details as to what happened onboard.
New Details: What Happened To Cause American Airlines Pilot To Order Passengers To Keep Hands On Head For The Last Hour Of Flight
Recall that the following initial details emerged about the incident:
- Passengers were ordered to remain in their seats with their hands on their head for the final hour of American Airlines flight due to a “security threat” onboard
- Passengers were also instructed not to film
- Upon landing, law enforcement personnel boarded the 777 jet to purportedly arrest a woman who had been screaming onboard
- In Miami, passengers deplaned via air stairs and were bussed to the terminal after law enforcement personnel boarded the aircraft
- Inside the terminal, passengers were forced to wait until cleared to depart by police officers and investigators
The particular details of what occurred onboard were a mystery. One tweet suggested it was a woman who screamed for more than 90 minutes continuously, but that is not actually what occurred onboard.
We now have further details about what occurred:
- Anthony Kevin Trujillo, 27, alleged there was a gas leak onboard
- He further alleged his seatmate was was hiding bomb components in her socks
- Trujillo then “accused a flight attendant of carrying improvised explosive device components in his bag and tried to wrestle the bag away from him”
- Two federal Air Marshals were onboard and searched the flight attendant’s bag and found no bomb parts
- Not satisfied, Trujillo jumped up from his seat and ran down the aisle toward the flight deck
- The Air Marshals stopped him and secured him to a seat after he resisted them
- Trujillo has been charged with interfering with crew members and faces up to 20 years in jail
As View from the Wing noted, despite finding no evidence of explosive devices, passengers “couldn’t take their hands down, because the captain didn’t say Simon Says.”
CONCLUSION
The reaction by the captain seems like total overkill to me and it seems that Trujillo needs some serious mental help. At least we now have more details, though it seems to me quite clear there was no threat onboard, just a crazy passenger.
When does “out of an abundance of caution” become too much? Was the line crossed here?
photo: illustration created by author
I once had a shoulder injury preventing placing my hand on my head. The most I could do was bend the elbow so I could touch the top of my ear. Lesson learned: Do not abuse your arm or shoulder. Don’t act like it’s a bulldozer or backhoe.
WHAAAA.
Yes. It was crossed. there were marshalls on board. Ridiculous.
My biggest takeaway is that the Air Marshall program has at least enough common sense to place its members on flights out of Florida…mildly reassuring given what a basket case the program is overall.
On a serious note, of course this was overkill. Abundance of safety taken too far as you’ve said. We can never remove all danger (nor should we try in all situations I would argue); rather people should accept that some activities involve some element of risk and accept it going in.
Given that there were Air Marshalls on board who took control of the situation and ensured the safety of the flight – the captain’s response is extremely unreasonable. It’s further evidence that the passengers mean very little to the flight deck and to American Airlines in general. To treat all passengers on the 777 as criminals in response to a single crazy passenger (that was detained by onboard law enforcement) is pathetic.
Totally agree! This was ludicrous!
I am quite confident that no changes could have or would have been filed against a passenger who remained seated with their seatbelt fastened and hands clearly visible in their lap. Assuming the passenger remained calm and rational while failing to comply with the insane command to put their hands on their head, it is hard to imagine the FAs attempting to forcibly restrain them. Federal law requires compliance with all LEGAL orders from the Captain. Like any other authority, it is not unlimited. Nothing in law or regulation suggests that the Captain has the authority to order the entire plane of passengers to sit like Gitmo detainees for an hour.
I have a neuro condition that prevents me from doing this. Would someone listen when you say, “Hey this is impossible for me?”
I get safety. And I get the unknown. The deal here was to get everyone back safely and they did.
How do we weed out the frigging nut cakes that are currently getting on every single day and causing problems? They need to be stopped AT THE DOOR.
I agree but in reality there is no way to weed out the “ nutcakes” unless we have to show our psych evaluation cards at the door of the airplane together with our vaccination records etc.!!
And even if so the damn ACLU would be all over it!!
Hey Matthew, perhaps you should stick to being an “avid traveler.” Your statement “ The reaction by the captain seems like total overkill to me,” and “it seems to me quite clear there was no threat onboard,” indicates your total ignorance of aircraft safety protocols in the post 911 era. As a former Federal Agent, I can tell you that you have to take every threat seriously and it sounds like the Federal Air Marshals on board the aircraft, as well as the captain, did exactly that. I applaud the Federal Air Marshals and the crew of that flight for doing a great job and bringing the aircraft in safely. Perhaps you should do the same rather than criticizing their actions.
No thanks, I stand by my opinion. Thanks for expressing your own thoughts.
I would expect that exact response from an “avid traveler” such as yourself. The general public isn’t made aware of certain protocols when dealing with this type of incident on an aircraft. And since it appears you have zero law enforcement experience, the actions that the Air Marshal’s took may seem unnecessary or “overkill” to you. I can assure you; however, that they were not. As I mentioned earlier, stick to being an “avid traveler” and leave the security and safety of the aircraft to the professionals who will do whatever they’ve been trained to do to make sure the aircraft and all passengers arrive safely at their destination.
I can’t speak for the Air Marshall program, but I’ve seen plenty of airline security programs/SSI and never have I seen anything guiding flight crew to order passengers to sit with their hands behind their head. All programs I’ve been involved with guide employees to think about the credibility of the threat using the information that they have. Certainly after an air marshall search, there’s no credibility, if there was even any to begin with.
Mike,
As an airline pilot its my butt on the line here to a far far greater extent than any Federal Agents. Did you not read the part of the story where both FAM’s determined that there was no threat? This wasn’t only overkill it was overreach. If there was a credible threat you don’t fly for an hour you divert to the nearest airport. No matter how you slice this people screwed up bigtime here.
I agree.
And the fact that the passengers complied shows that covid has turned the public into a bunch of sheeple, willing to follow any order that anyone in authority thinks up, no matter how useless or ridiculous it is.
Spot on.
Hey Matt
Am I the only suspicious-paranoid that thinking the pilot’s request for all on board to keep their hands on their heads with fingers crossed until the plane touches solid ground ; was a good call ? Or is it just my New York upbringing clouding my benevolent judgment again ? Safe travels to all that need to travel during the holidays . And kudos !
No, you can’t take every threat seriously. Otherwise there would be no travel industry left. If anyone who claims “the FAs, the copilot and the Captain are all conspiring to bring this plane down with an invisible IED” gets the unwarranted attention of the Marshalls, and everyone is presumed guilty until proven innocent, then there is only a false feeling of safety, aka security theatre. The moment this fella started randomly accusing everyone of carrying explosives, it should’ve become apparent to anyone that they were mentally unstable. In case of doubt, the crew/law enforcement officers should’ve consulted with experts on the ground. Having 300+ passengers remain seated with their hands on their heads “just in case” is the very definition (legally) of despotism. And it’s also disproportionate and therefore unlawful.
Agreed. Safety of the plane and passengers is the top priority.
Same .
Oh, Mike Smith. As a European, you’re why we laugh at America. What a sh*thole you guys are becoming. Poop maps, typhoid fever in LA, people like you.
I have a medical condition that would severely limit my ability to do this. I would be in crippling pain after just 15-20 minutes of raising my arms. Is there an ADA override on a plane that allows them to require passengers with disabilities to do something that they aren’t capable of? I worry about people like me or my elderly mother who will struggle and suffer during a request like this. I can’t imagine how tough it would be for an able bodied person to do this and the elderly and disabled are impacted even more. Curious if there is a legal override to federally mandated accomodations in cases like this
There a few possibilities here.
1. The Captain did not order the hands on head and had no idea it was happening.
2. He did order it and was not told that the Marshalls determined the threat was a hoax. In that case he is an idiot for not diverting to the nearest available airport.
3. He ordered it, was told it was a hoax, and elected to not rescind his order on “safety” grounds. In that case he’s an idiot who lacks the required judgement to be an airline Captain. Especially because if he feels there is still a threat he should be diverting.
4. He might have been more than a little busy and forgot about the instruction. In that case the FA’s are fools for not calling him and verifying that pax should still keep their hands up even though it was a hoax.
Any way you slice this AA has a lot of questions to answer and hopefully lawsuits will be filed. Because making people sit this way for an hour plus and then holding them at the gate for the misbehavior of one very clear lunatic is beyond unacceptable.
Quit your meme-ing and just comply with the rules printed
Ed on your ticket
I missed the part about being ordered to sit like a POW. Where exactly in the COC is it?….assuming you’re familiar with it.
My sentiments exactly . Some people have a hard time seeing the big picture . Even when it’s imperative to so .
“…to me quite clear there was no threat onboard, just a crazy passenger.”
Say what? Um, excuse me, but when I’m soaring 30k+ feet above terra firma in a silver cigar tube – I’d argue that a crazy passenger in said cigar-tube is… most certainly a SERIOUS threat, thankyouverymuch!
So it was between MIA and Lax? If it were that dangerous, sounds like diverting to the nearest station with a runway that could handle a 777? Or might that cost AA more money to do? My guess is that the hands on the head was more about preventing people filming than safety—They didn’t want videos out there. We’ll have to see if this little hands in the air takes off and is a new stunt to help airlines prevent videos and control the narrative. If I were on the flight, I’d be chatting with my legal council about any options.
All the “obey the authorities” writers on here are saying that the crew are justified because they followed “protocol”.
But they’re not explaining what was the danger the crew were protecting against?
The crazy passenger has been detained. And even if he wasn’t, telling the other passengers to keep their hands in the air isn’t really doing anything.
So if a protocol was followed, it was invoked unnecessarily, or the protocol itself is faulty.
Either way, if you want to defend this kind of passenger abuse, explain to what end this was necessary. Simply saying “it’s protocol” is not illuminating.
With testimony like “severely limit my ability” and “prevents me from doing this” and “shoulder injury” and “crippling pain”, a savvy (or sleazy depending on your point of view) lawyer could easily make a case for torture (which most people, save a few alpha hotels in the GWB administration) think is immoral and illegal. Maybe excessive force, which is certainly a subjective determination.
Intense curiosity as to WHO ordered hands on head; the captain, the air marshals, the flight attendants. And wondering about the immediate consequences of disobedience; doubt anyone would have been shot, maybe arrested and charged with resistance, failure to obey a police order? Was it a legal order?
“… stick to being an “avid traveler” and leave the security and safety of the aircraft to the professionals …”, thank you Colonel Jessup. “… just comply …”, thank you Officer Chauvin.
Matthew, perhaps some legal research is in order. Do the orders and instructions of an air marshal carry the same weight and possible consequences (criminal prosecution, incarceration, fines) as the orders and instructions of flight crew member or flight attendant based on either the COC or federal laws. Does it make a difference if one is under arrest? Do FAM require any sort of “reasonable suspicion”? Do we consent to “stop and frisk” (beyond TSA screening) with the purchase of an airline ticket?
I agree whole heartedly with Mike Smith. It is not for anyone to determine weather it was a hoax from a mentally disturbed person. You assume all threats to be real when dealing with the lives of many. If I was a true bomber, the fact that if you act crazy and make crazy statements, there is a likely hood of nothing being done, would certainly influence my actions. Let’s remember 911. If several office managers ordered immediate evacuation upon hearing a plane hit the towers, hundreds of lives would have been saved. Instead they assumed it was a hoax and did nothing. In closing……put your hands over your freaking heads until you land.
As someone with 42 years in airline operations, I believe Mr. Bowers is exactly correct.
I’m sorry your wrong. You don’t simply assume automatically every single threat is valid. Especially when you have very good reason to think the threat isn’t valid.
This event is a great example of that. If you think that you need to take action on this threat of some kind then you divert the flight. You do NOT fly for an hour in that state. If you think you have a bomb on board then you land ASAP period. You do not fly around for an hour with everyone holding their hands over their head.
But when you have good reason, as the Marshals on this flight did, to believe the person on board is simply nuts then you secure the person of interest and continue to your destination.
I repeat, if you have a threat that you think legitimately requires hands on heads from everyone on board then you divert immediately period end of story.
Pilots and crew have every reason to be afraid. But when their fear becomes taking on the role of Gitmo guards for a plane full of people, that becomes cowardice that becomes abuse of the rights of the innocent.
Having your hands on your head is better than being little dead. Upsetting situation sure, but I think an abundance of caution is best. Had there actually been a device on board people would be saying “they should have done more to stop it”.
What I don’t understand is how on earth were there two Air Marshals on board? My understanding is that Air Marshals being aboard is extremely rare due to number of flights, number of marshals, and funding. How on earth were there two? And my suspicious is that it was the Air Marshals who told the captain to ask passengers to put hands on head. That reaction isn’t a pilot reaction imo but a LEO action.
If American were the only remaining domestic airline, I would take a train or drive. I was an airline pilot in the 90’s, following my Air Force career, and there is a reason other airlines’ pilots nicknamed AA the “sky nazis.” AA has mastered the areas of arrogance and poor service.
Wow, I can’t believe the passengers were ordered to place their hands on their head for the final hour of the flight. It’s scary to think about the authority the flight attendants had to make such a demand without any explanation. I hope there was a valid reason for it, but it seems like a pretty extreme measure to take without proper justification. Either way, it’s definitely not the kind of thing you expect to happen on a commercial flight. Thanks for sharing this updated information!