Airline Mechanic Charged with Sabotaging Plane That Had 150 People on Board

On Thursday, an American Airlines mechanic was arrested on a charge of sabotage after it was discovered he had allegedly purposely disabled a navigation system on a flight with 150 people in July.

The Miami Herald reports that Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani, 60, is accused of manipulating the air data module on a plane due to take off from Miami International Airport. The complaint affidavit stated:

Just prior to taking the departure runway, the flight crew increased power to the engines to pre-position the Target Aircraft for takeoff. The action of powering up the Target Aircraft’s engine resulted in an error related to the air data module (ADM) system which, in part, records aircraft speed, pitch, and other critical flight data. The takeoff was ordered aborted and the Target Aircraft was directed to return to MIA’s concourse D, gate 48, for maintenance.

The affidavit continued, “An AA mechanic discovered a loosely connected pitot tube, which connects directly to the ADM. Further inspection revealed the ADM appeared to have been deliberately obstructed with what appeared to be a dark Styrofoam-type material.” . . .

The affidavit also states that Alani claimed his actions were triggered by the dispute between the mechanics’ union and American Airlines, which “had affected him financially.” The affidavit noted Alani claimed he wanted to cause a delay or cancellation so he could gain overtime work. Alani told federal air marshals that he didn’t want to harm the plane or the passengers. (Read more from “Airline Mechanic Charged with Sabotaging Plane That Had 150 People on Board” HERE)

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