[TheeBadOne]

ATLANTA — A man attempted to break into the cockpit of an airliner flying from South Africa to Atlanta on Thursday, the FBI said.

The incident was not a terrorist attack, said Theodore Jackson, FBI agent-in-charge in Atlanta.

James Drake, a 53-year-old U.S. citizen, was arrested and faces federal charges including interference with a flight crew member, the FBI said.

Drake was arrested in 1987 after a similar incident on an airplane, according to FBI spokesman Jeff Holmes.

The Thursday morning incident occurred about 2 hours before the South African Airlines plane was scheduled to land. Drake rushed to the front of the plane and began banging on the cockpit door with his hands, Holmes said.

Two passengers restrained Drake and persuaded him to sit down for the remainder of the flight, which had departed from Cape Town, Holmes said.

The FBI did not immediately know Drake's hometown.

Authorities probably will ask for a mental evaluation of Drake, who was being held pending a hearing in federal magistrate court in Atlanta, Holmes said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,97751,00.html
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What the heck is wrong with people! Does anyone here fly regularly, and if so what have you noticed on flights since 9/11? :confused:

[jimpeel]

The other day, passengers tackled and duct taped a passenger who started walking up and down the aisle reading aloud from his Bible. :confused:

No prosletyzing, Bible reading, or praying aloud on any aircraft I guess.

[TheeBadOne]

Jim:, well it depends on what he was reading....

If it was from the book of Revelations....:rolleyes:

[c_yeager]

I think that weirdness in general is going to be frowned upon on most flights these days.

[answerguy]

Soon they will require all passengers to be duct taped to their seats before take off.

[Old Fuff]

Well it was O.K. because "Da .... Marshal" stopped him, right?

You mean they didn't have a Marshal ......??

Oh well, then the pilot had a gun, right .........

He didn't?!!

I sure hope that someone doesn't get control of a plane like this while the president is home at the White House, I means what's to stop someone from doing another 9-11?

But not to worry, we have a Department of Homeland Security looking after us don't we ......?

DON'T WE ........ ??? !!!

[Lancel]

Fellow probably saw a gremlin on the wing. How to deal with it is in the Twilight Zone operating manual.

Larry

[El Tejon]

From Suid Afrika? Probably being chased by a wild dog!:D

How did this thumper make it up to the cockpit??? One would think he would have been Dutch piled way before the goal line???:confused:

[C.R.Sam]

Close the bar ?

Sam

[Cosmoline]

I strongly suspect the wet bar. The "instant ***hole, just add beer" factor plays a role in most of these incidents.

As far as the Bible, if it's the Sermon on the Mount I have no problem. But start talking about death on a white horse and multi-headed beasts and I'm getting out the tape! :D

[RocketMan]

Jimpeel,

The airline passenger you mentioned wasn't just reading from the Bible, there was other general weirdness to his behavior. When he went to "comfort" a young child that was crying, he was tackled by passengers and crew.
One report said the child was crying because of this passenger's actions.
One of the passenger's relatives (mother?) said he had a history of mental illness and often neglected to take his medication.

[jimpeel]

But was there ANY evidence that he was a physical danger to the aircraft or the passengers?

Was there any overt act on his part; or was reading the Bible out loud and acting "weird" enough to pack the plane into the ground?

Were they afraid he was praying for the plane to crash; and they were scared to death that the good Lord just might answer that prayer?

Thought crimes are the worst crimes because they are perpetrated by those who accuse others of doing them.

[RocketMan]

Jimpeel,

After some searching I found an AP report in the Sacramento Bee, dated Sept. 15. I believe I saw the original article on Fox News.com.

From the SacBee article, he was being tolerated as long as all he was doing was walking the aisles reading the Bible out loud. Not much of a problem there.

However, his behavior was reported as becoming more agitated. He started moving forward in the cabin. A baby began crying, he said he had to help the baby, and pushed his way past a flight attendant.
That appeared to be the last straw for the passengers and crew.

In today's post 9/11 world, erratic behavior on an airplane gets you restrained. That is as it should be, IMHO.

[answerguy]

The other day, passengers tackled and duct taped a passenger who started walking up and down the aisle reading aloud from his Bible.

You know what? I'd be tempted to duct tape the guy to his seat if he was walking up and down the aisles reading aloud from a Sears catalog.

[Double Naught Spy]

You know, the problem is not reading from a book. The problem is that normal folks don't walk the isles of airliners preaching the gospel unless it is a charter religious flight. In some instances, those not mentally stable will first invoke religion before some grave act, such as before going to go see God. Whether a genuine mental problem or a chemical induced problem isn't relevant per se. What is relevant is some goof is sharing religioun in a circumstance where normal people don't do that act. The question then is one of potential danger.

[Kruzr]

But was there ANY evidence that he was a physical danger to the aircraft or the passengers?

So if you're on a plane and someone walks the aisles saying Allah Akbar, and reading the Koran, will you just sit there? Religious fanaticism is dangerous no matter what the religion is because the zealot believes he is acting in God's name and rational behavoir goes out the door.

[Standing Wolf]

...not to worry, we have a Department of Homeland Security looking after us don't we ......?

Are we talking about the same $28,000,000,000 Department of Homeland Security?

[jimpeel]

So if you're on a plane and someone walks the aisles saying Allah Akbar, and reading the Koran, will you just sit there?Yep. What kind of overt act is saying "Allah Akbar" and reading the Koran? If there is no physical contact or attack on a person or persons; name the crime that has been committed.

The fact is that people on aircraft are now so hair triggered at the slightest provocation. When the guy tried to breach the cockpit door and was hit in the head with a fire ax, that was an overt act.

When a passenger started trying to light his shoes on fire, that was an overt act.

When a guy got on the food service cart, squatted and defecated, that was an overt act.

Saying words that do not specify any intent to harm another, or reading a religious tome, are not overt, or even covert, acts.

Panic is an overt act. They let their imaginations run away with them and instilled in this man a thought crime of their own invention. As I said earlier:Thought crimes are the worst crimes because they are perpetrated by those who accuse others of doing them.

[answerguy]

I think most of us would agree that the person is going to have go one more step to deserve to be restrained. The one more thing could be refusing to take his seat when ordered to by a stewardess.

FWIW- this could be used as a diversionary tactic also.