# Plane diverted - possible terrorist aboard **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 12, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-diverted-possible-terrorist-aboard/303575 "2005-05-12T16:49:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-diverted-possible-terrorist-aboard/303575/1 "2005-05-12T16:49:02Z")
So OK its happening right now. The planes in the air and someone notices the name is on the no fly list. Officials are notified and the plane is diverted. So what happens aboard that plane right now? Is the subject under arrest? Is there a sky marshall closely watching his every move? Do the other passengers know? Whats happening up there? ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-diverted-possible-terrorist-aboard/303575/2 "2005-05-12T18:07:31Z")
You might want to stick the word 'hypothetically" in there somewhere so no one thinks you are referring to a current news item (as I briefly wondered) and freaks out. You AREN’T referring to something I’ve missed while at the hardware store, are you? ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-diverted-possible-terrorist-aboard/303575/3 "2005-05-12T18:09:29Z")
The OP is, though I’ve no further details yet… I heard a broadcast on the radio coming back from lunch. Plane on ground, authorities on way (or there by now). Passengers being screened. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-diverted-possible-terrorist-aboard/303575/4 "2005-05-12T18:10:26Z")
Not a lot is known yet. The passengers know that the flight is being diverted but it’s a safe bet that they’ve been given a pretty vague reason. The most likely scenario is that the passenger in question simply has a name in common with someone on the list. When the plane lands, authorities will interview the person to make a more precise determination about who they are. In all probability they will then apologize and put the person on another flight to Boston. If the person turns out to be the _same_ person who wound up on the list, then the interview will be somewhat longer, and will probably end with the person being deported, at the very least. By all accounts nothing untoward is happening on the flight, so it seems reasonable to assume that this isn’t an actual terrorist act that’s being thwarted. Possibly the interception of an undesirable alien. Probably nothing but a precaution. [Here’s a link, should anyone require one.](http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=82886) ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-diverted-possible-terrorist-aboard/303575/5 "2005-05-12T18:11:14Z")
[this](http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/05/12/us_diverts_paris_boston_flight_to_maine/) from the Boston Globe… Apparently it’ll be on the ground shortly. Probably just a name confusion. ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-diverted-possible-terrorist-aboard/303575/6 "2005-05-12T18:57:08Z")
I knew it was happening as I asked my question. Just wondering how they handle something like that aboard the plane. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-diverted-possible-terrorist-aboard/303575/7 "2005-05-12T19:29:15Z")
Whoops-- my apologies. I guess I DID miss something while at the hardware store. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-diverted-possible-terrorist-aboard/303575/8 "2005-05-12T20:14:48Z")
While the plane is in flight, I’d expect that there’d be no notice at all given to the passengers. An air marshall, if present, would likely be alerted to keep an eye on Seat 33-D, (hopefully, the marshall’s not in 33-E when the flight attendant tells them to pay attention!) but beyond that, we’re dealing with national security measures, so there will be a lot that they’ll never disclose. As for the incident at hand, apparently Air France missed seeing that a passenger was on the do-not-fly list. Unknown so far if they really are that person or just an unlucky coincidence. Coming in from Paris, diverting from Maine to Boston’s not much difference and probably un-noticed by anyone until they’ve landed at an unfamiliar airport. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-diverted-possible-terrorist-aboard/303575/9 "2005-05-12T20:51:24Z")
Remember that this exact scenario happened with Yusuf Islam, the former Cat Stevens. From [CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/09/22/plane.diverted.stevens/): > [@](#): > > While the plane was in flight, the Advanced Passenger Information System flagged Islam’s name, a Department of Homeland Security official said. > > Customs agents alerted the Transportation Security Administration, which then ordered the plane diverted to Bangor, Maine, and away from the northeast corridor of New York and Washington. If you search among news sources at that time, some should have more specific details about what happened onboard. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-diverted-possible-terrorist-aboard/303575/10 "2005-05-13T01:01:25Z")
Also note that some perfectly innocent people have found themselves placed on the “Do not fly” list for … well, _suspicious_ reasons: > [@](#): > > [**"No Fly" List Targets Peaceful Protesters**](http://www.nathannewman.org/log/archives/001036.shtml#001036) > > After more than a year of complaints by some US anti-war activists that they were being unfairly targeted by airport security, Washington has admitted the existence of a list, possibly hundreds or even thousands of names long, of people it deems worthy of special scrutiny at airports. > > The list had been kept secret until its disclosure last week by the new US agency in charge of aviation safety, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). And it is entirely separate from the relatively well-publicised “no-fly” list, which covers about 1,000 people believed to have criminal or terrorist ties that could endanger the safety of their fellow passengers. > > …The activists, Rebecca Gordon and Jan Adams, work for a small pacifist magazine called War Times and say they have never been arrested, let alone have criminal records.