A passenger had to be restrained by seven flight attendants after rushing the front of the aircraft before strangling a flight attendant with his own necktie in an effort to breach the cockpit door.
Suicidal Passenger Rushes Cockpit, Strangles JetBlue Flight Attendant
JetBlue Flight 261 left Boston (BOS) on Wednesday evening headed for San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU). According to an FBI affidavit, Khalil El Dahr attempted to make a make a phone call in the air and became agitated when it did not work.
Yelling in Arabic and Spanish, El Dahr rushed toward the flight deck door. A flight attendant was stop El Dahr in the front row of the plane, but then one of the pilots opened the flight deck door, unaware of what was going on outside.
El Dahr used the opportunity to push back against an overhead bin to gain leverage then kicked the flight attendant in the chest while grasping his necktie. The sudden countervailing force tightened the tie, strangling the flight attendant. Only by letting go of the passenger was the flight attendant able to breath again.
As this was going on, El Dahr screamed that the pilot should shoot him. Other crew members rushed forward to assist and it ultimately took seven flight attendants to restrain him. At one point, flex ties (plastic handcuffs) were applied, but El Dahr ripped them off. He was again restrained with seat belt extenders, another flex tie, and the same necktie he used to try to strangle the flight attendant.
The flight continued to San Juan, where law enforcement officials met the flight and promptly arrested El Dahr.
Both the FBI, which is investigating the incident, and JetBlue have refused to provide further details. An FBI spokesperson noted:
“Additional investigative efforts are being conducted, and we cannot comment on those efforts at this time.”
Meanwhile, a JetBlue spokesperson said:
“A physical altercation occurred on board with a customer who tried to access the flight deck. We applaud the crew members for their response to this challenging situation and for keeping the other customers on board safe.”
The man is now in custody and faces a lengthy jail sentence. You can read the FBI affidavit here.
CONCLUSION
Folks, this issue could be a turning point in the battle to secure the skies. Will this bolster Delta’s plan to ban a problematic passenger on one airline from all U.S. airlines? Will it lead to a second cockpit door being installed? Even if insanity played a role (the passenger was most assuredly troubled), does the uptick in violence onboard require a more concrete response than threats of fine and jail time?
We will soon find out.
image: Alan Wilson
Mark my words. The only solution will be that airlines are going to need to hire private security for the time being to fly with flight attendants. To make this effective they will also need to make their presence known on board as a part of passengers safety. This is a sad state of things in our society that it’s come to this, but if it continues, and it seems to be, there will be no other solution. I am already hearing many people saying they just don’t want to fly now as “people are crazy.” As such, this is the only way to curtail things and start to get peoples’ confidence back of a calm flight.
Also, it would be interesting to see the data as to which airlines have the highest/lowest rate of these incidents per passenger flown. With that there could be a study to see what factors could be contributing.
Hmmm…I thought that was the job of the Air Marshalls that are supposedly on all flights ! NOT
Khalil El Dahr, sounds like your average American name. The question is if the media will investigate this or just blow over it because of the name. Just like how it took over a day to get the name of the Kroger shooting suspect. The leftist media hates it when a story doesn’t fit the narrative of an angry white guy.
Happens once in a while – of course we all know (or at least those of us not in the Faux News bubble) do actually understand where the biggest thread lies: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/08/post-911-domestic-terror
This will get as much attention as Hunter Biden’s e mail, which serve up corruption on a platter bog course thd rubber holes in the lame stream don’t care about that.
He was yelling Allahu Akbar, which means “I’d like some water”, I think.
I’m surprised that the ties aren’t clip on for this very reason. I worked in a hospital for years and the ties there were clip on for safety reasons
I would prefer that the pilot flee to the cockpit and lock the door. Let others fight.
“one of the pilots opened the flight deck door, unaware of what was going on outside”
I thought this wasn’t supposed to happen. Before a pilot or other crew member opens the cockpit door, aren’t they first supposed to use the intercom to alert a flight attendant and get the all-clear? I have seen it work that way on flights that I’ve been on; I thought it was a required procedure.
You are correct. This sounds like a breach of protocol.
Here in Australia, I have seen flight attendants stand guard whilst the pilot uses the toilet at the front of the plane. And this was on Tigerair, a budget airline!
The breach of protocol could have ended with serious consequences and loss of life for all aboard. Way more of a safety issue than someone not wearing a mask, especially if the attacker had an accomplice.
Thoughts and prayers…..
Muslim troublemakers get a free pass. I’ve see nothing on the news about this. We all know that had the perp been a white guy in a MAGA cap it would have been the lead story on every network. Ah, the benefits of media hypocrisy!
Don’t open the cockpit door! A Jetblue pilot opened the door to see what was going on? That’s the most frightening part of the story.
The pilot opened the door *unaware of what was happening. Other news articles said it was to check. But that seems like a risky loophole if there’s no way for them to know what’s on the other side of the door before they open it for any reason.
There are cameras on public buses, but none outside a security door on an airplane? Is it only jetblue? It’s disturbing if pilots cannot see or hear a commotion outside their door.
Presuming this lone wolf jihadist was probably a big dude. In any event, so much for the expensive TSA air marshal program. This brothertrucker should have been tazed into unconsciousness.