Terror in the Skies, Again? 
 
By Annie Jacobsen 
 
A Women's Wall Street Exclusive Article

Note from the E-ditors: You are about to read an account of what happened
during a domestic flight that one of our writers, Annie Jacobsen, took from
Detroit to Los Angeles. The WWS Editorial Team debated long and hard about how
to handle this information and ultimately we decided it was something that
should be shared. What does it have to do with finances? Nothing, and
everything. Here is Annie's story.  
 
On June 29, 2004, at 12:28 p.m., I flew on Northwest Airlines flight #327 from
Detroit to Los Angeles with my husband and our young son.  Also on our flight
were 14 Middle Eastern men between the ages of approximately 20 and 50 years
old.  What I experienced during that flight has caused me to question whether
the United States of America can realistically uphold the civil liberties of
every individual, even non-citizens, and protect its citizens from terrorist
threats. 
 
On that Tuesday, our journey began uneventfully. Starting out that morning in
Providence, Rhode Island, we went through security screening, flew to Detroit,
and passed the time waiting for our connecting flight to Los Angeles by
shopping at the airport stores and eating lunch at an airport diner. With no
second security check required in Detroit we headed to our gate and waited for
the pre-boarding announcement. Standing near us, also waiting to pre-board, was
a group of six Middle Eastern men. They were carrying blue passports with
Arabic writing. Two men wore tracksuits with Arabic writing across the back.
Two carried musical instrument cases - thin, flat, 18 long. One wore a yellow
T-shirt and held a McDonald's bag. And the sixth man had a bad leg -- he wore
an orthopedic shoe and limped.  When the pre-boarding announcement was made, we
handed our tickets to the Northwest Airlines agent, and walked down the jetway
with the group of men directly behind us. 
 
My four-year-old son was determined to wheel his carry-on bag himself, so I
turned to the men behind me and said, You go ahead, this could be awhile. No,
you go ahead, one of the men replied. He smiled pleasantly and extended his arm
for me to pass. He was young, maybe late 20's and had a goatee.   I thanked him
and we boarded the plan. 
 
Once on the plane, we took our seats in coach (seats 17A, 17B and 17C). The man
with the yellow shirt and the McDonald's bag sat across the aisle from us (in
seat 17E). The pleasant man with the goatee sat a few rows back and across the
aisle from us (in seat 21E).  The rest of the men were seated throughout the
plane, and several made their way to the back.   
 
As we sat waiting for the plane to finish boarding, we noticed another large
group of Middle Eastern men boarding.  The first man wore a dark suit and
sunglasses. He sat in first class in seat 1A, the seat second-closet to the
cockpit door.  The other seven men walked into the coach cabin.  As aware
Americans, my husband and I exchanged glances, and then continued to get
comfortable.  I noticed some of the other passengers paying attention to the
situation as well.  As boarding continued, we watched as, one by one, most of
the Middle Eastern men made eye contact with each other.  They continued to
look at each other and nod, as if they were all in agreement about something. I
could tell that my husband was beginning to feel anxious. 
 
The take-off was uneventful.  But once we were in the air and the seatbelt sign
was turned off, the unusual activity began. The man in the yellow T-shirt got
out of his seat and went to the lavatory at the front of coach -- taking his
full McDonald's bag with him.  When he came out of the lavatory he still had
the McDonald's bag, but it was now almost empty. He walked down the aisle to
the back of the plane, still holding the bag.  When he passed two of the men
sitting mid-cabin, he gave a thumbs-up sign.  When he returned to his seat, he
no longer had the McDonald's bag. 
 
Then another man from the group stood up and took something from his carry-on
in the overhead bin. It was about a foot long and was rolled in cloth.  He
headed toward the back of the cabin with the object.  Five minutes later,
several more of the Middle Eastern men began using the forward lavatory
consecutively. In the back, several of the men stood up and used the back
lavatory consecutively as well. 
 
For the next hour, the men congregated in groups of two and three at the back
of the plane for varying periods of time. Meanwhile, in the first class cabin,
just a foot or so from the cockpit door, the man with the dark suit - still
wearing sunglasses - was also standing.  Not one of the flight crew members
suggested that any of these men take their seats.
 
Watching all of this, my husband was now beyond anxious.  I decided to try to
reassure my husband (and maybe myself) by walking to the back bathroom.  I knew
the goateed-man I had exchanged friendly words with as we boarded the plane was
seated only a few rows back, so  I thought I would say hello to the man to get
some reassurance that everything was fine. As I stood up and turned around, I
glanced in his direction and we made eye contact.  I threw out my friendliest
remember-me-we-had-a-nice-exchange-just-a-short-time-ago smile. The man did not
 smile back. His face did not move. In fact, the cold, defiant look he gave me
sent shivers down my spine. 
 
When I returned to my seat I was unable to assure my husband that all was well.
My husband immediately walked to the first class section to talk with the
flight attendant.  I might be overreacting, but I've been watching some really
suspicious things...  Before he could finish his statement, the flight
attendant pulled him into the galley. In a quiet voice she explained that they
were all concerned about what was going on. The captain was aware. The flight
attendants were passing notes to each other. She said that there were people on
board higher up than you and me watching the men. My husband returned to his
seat and relayed this information to me. He was feeling slightly better. I was
feeling much worse. We were now two hours into a four-in-a-half hour flight. 
 
Approximately 10 minutes later, that same flight attendant came by with the
drinks cart. She leaned over and quietly told my husband there were federal air
marshals sitting all around us. She asked him not to tell anyone and explained
that she could be in trouble for giving out that information. She then
continued serving drinks. 
 
About 20 minutes later the same flight attendant returned. Leaning over and
whispering, she asked my husband to write a description of the yellow-shirted
man sitting across from us. She explained it would look too suspicious if she
wrote the information. She asked my husband to slip the note to her when he was
done.  
 
After seeing 14 Middle Eastern men board separately (six together, eight
individually) and then act as a group, watching their unusual glances,
observing their bizarre bathroom activities, watching them congregate in small
groups, knowing that the flight attendants and the pilots were seriously
concerned, and now knowing that federal air marshals were on board, I was
officially terrified.. Before I'm labeled a racial profiler or -- worse yet --
a racist, let me add this. A month ago I traveled to India to research a
magazine article I was writing. My husband and I flew on a jumbo jet carrying
more than 300 Hindu and Muslim men and women on board.  We traveled throughout
the country and stayed in a Muslim village 10 miles outside Pakistan. I never
once felt fearful. I never once felt unsafe. I never once had the feeling that
anyone wanted to hurt me.  This time was different. 
 
Finally, the captain announced that the plane was cleared for landing. It had
been four hours since we left Detroit. The fasten seat belt light came on and I
could see downtown Los Angeles. The flight attendants made one final sweep of
the cabin and strapped themselves in for landing. I began to relax. Home was in
sight. 
 
Suddenly, seven of the men stood up -- in unison -- and walked to the front and
back lavatories. One by one, they went into the two lavatories, each spending
about four minutes inside. Right in front of us, two men stood up against the
emergency exit door, waiting for the lavatory to become available. The men
spoke in Arabic among themselves and to the man in the yellow shirt sitting
nearby. One of the men took his camera into the lavatory. Another took his cell
phone. Again, no one approached the men. Not one of the flight attendants asked
them to sit down.  I watched as the man in the yellow shirt, still in his seat,
reached inside his shirt and pulled out a small red book. He read a few pages,
then put the book back inside his shirt.  He pulled the book out again, read a
page or two more, and put it back.  He continued to do this several more times.

 
I looked around to see if any other passengers were watching. I immediately
spotted a distraught couple seated two rows back. The woman was crying into the
man's shoulder.  He was holding her hand.  I heard him say to her, You've got
to calm down. Behind them sat the once pleasant-smiling, goatee-wearing man.   
 
I grabbed my son, I held my husband's hand and, despite the fact that I am not
a particularly religious person, I prayed. The last man came out of the
bathroom, and as he passed  the man in the yellow shirt he ran his forefinger
across his neck and mouthed the word No.  
 
The plane landed. My husband and I gathered our bags and quickly, very quickly,
walked up the jetway. As we exited the jetway and entered the airport, we saw
many, many men in dark suits.  A few yards further out into the terminal, LAPD
agents ran past us, heading for the gate.  I have since learned that the
representatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Los Angeles
Police Department (LAPD), the Federal Air Marshals (FAM), and the
Transportation Security Association (TSA) met our plane as it landed.  Several
men -- who I presume were the federal air marshals on board -- hurried off the
plane and directed the 14 men over to the side. 
 
Knowing what we knew, and seeing what we'd seen, my husband and I decided to
talk to the authorities. For several hours my husband and I were interrogated
by the FBI. We gave sworn statement after sworn statement.  We wrote down every
detail of our account. The interrogators seemed especially interested in the
McDonald's bag, so we repeated in detail what we knew about the McDonald's bag.
A law enforcement official stood near us, holding 14 Syrian passports in his
hand. We answered more questions. And finally we went home.  



Jason - Whiskey Eight Zulu Zulu Uniform



--- SBBSecho 2.00-Win32