Air Marshall Slapped

[bofie]

MIAMI -- A plane passenger slapped a federal air marshal after refusing to sit down and ignoring instructions to end her cellular phone call, which she said would have been "rude," prosecutors said Tuesday.

Lilia Belkova has been jailed since being charged with assaulting a federal officer and interfering with a flight crew last Wednesday as a US Airways flight prepared to take off from Miami to Philadelphia.

A bail hearing was set for Thursday. It was unclear late Tuesday if Belkova, 38, had yet been assigned an attorney.

According to prosecutors, Belkova refused flight attendants' instructions to turn off her cell phone as Flight 26 taxied for takeoff, saying: "It is rude to hang up on people. I don't have to turn my phone off."

After ignoring more flight crew instructions, one of two air marshals ordered Belkova to be seated and put a hand on her shoulder to show her where to sit.

Belkova reached back and slapped the marshal across the face, causing "minor swelling," according to court papers. She was handcuffed and taken off the plane.
Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

[jimntx]

Only problem is that in a "minor" incident like cell phone usage, a FAM is NOT supposed to identify themselves or get involved. This could have been a way to "draw" out the Feds by hijackers to see if this flight was covered.

 

[USFlyer]

Totally, the FAM should not have said one word. This could easily have been a ploy. The F/As should have just told the Captain and I'm confident he would have had the passenger removed from the plane without the FAM getting involved.

 

[madders]

what a bunch of security experts we are...
If it was a ploy it proved that FAM are on flights
Clearly this woman was interferring with flight crew which FAM are suppose to assist with.
Of course you never know how many FAM are on a flight

 

[jimntx]

what a bunch of security experts we are...
If it was a ploy it proved that FAM are on flights
Clearly this woman was interferring with flight crew which FAM are suppose to assist with.
Of course you never know how many FAM are on a flight

The ONLY time the FAMs are supposed to get involved is if there is a clear and present threat to the safety of the a/c--particularly to the cockpit. Refusing to hang up a cell phone is not a direct threat to anything other than a timely take-off.

If the f/a's had broken sterile to tell the capt that he couldn't take off, my guess is that there would have been a quick trip back to the terminal to deposit one passenger with airport security.

If my experience is any guide, the problem with incidents like this is that the airline management will probably not follow through in prosecuting the idiot woman if they have a choice. Most likely, they will give her some free passes to make up for her inconvenience of having her fanny thrown in jail.

 

[bofie]

i'm hoping she's an alien and can be deported

 

[ClueByFour]

I also think the FAMs should have let the cabin and flight crews handle it.

That said, it's trivially easy to spot a FAM these days. You don't really need to bother with a phone trick, or anything else.

 

[RowUnderDCA]

I also think the FAMs should have let the cabin and flight crews handle it.

That said, it's trivially easy to spot a FAM these days. You don't really need to bother with a phone trick, or anything else.

No kidding.

 

[USFlyer]

It's actually quite ridiculous. Letting them board prior to everyone else makes it PAINFULLY OBVIOUS who is a FAM, [edited out by USFlyer] ...

 

[USFlyer]

Folks we are starting to post to much on a public board.

Fair enough, but don't overlook the point ... the government needs to do something about just how obvious it is!

 

[Harry Callahan]

Thats' a big AGREED.....but the rest is probably for something else.

 

[Peeky]

Folks we are starting to post to much on a public board.

This is not the forum for such a discussion.

 

[mweiss]

I understand the sentiment, but let's not kid ourselves. People who are interested in getting around the security measures in place can do so, and we all know this. I'm troubled by that fact, and torn between the desire to expose those flaws so that they get fixed, and keeping my mouth (fingers?) shut in case they're not as smart as I (we?) think they are.

 

[ClueByFour]

Folks we are starting to post to much on a public board.

Security thru obscurity does not work.

I know people who turn it into a game--spot the FAM. If the guy running the show (ex-USSS) was smarter about it, they'd blend in.

In the meantime, don't insult the intelligence of the average flyer by suggesting that there is anything sensitive at all about what USFlyer wrote.

 

[oldiebutgoody]

I coulda guessed that PHL was on one end or the other of this flight. Another example of the types of attitudes that LUV is up against in PHL (of course, if you watch the program you know that this sort of thing goes on all the time on their airplanes already!).