The
three Pakistani passengers, two in BC (business class) seats
(8A and 14D) and one in economy, got our attention before takeoff
with self upgrading, moving about the plane, changing seats
several times and asking the crew about our layover, where we
stayed, etc. We basically ignored them and wrote them off as
bothersome.
During
the bar service, two of the guys kept drinking a lot, and asking
for refills before we got two rows away. Now we wrote them off
as obnoxious, as well as annoying. We cut down the drinks to
the guy in BC who wanted more scotch and wine with dinner.
After
the meal service, the guy in 8A, who hadn't said a word, got
up and went to 14D and spoke with him for 10 minutes. We didn't
even know they knew each other as they had no prior contact.
The
F/As (flight attendants) in economy were concerned over the
behavior of the economy passenger and asked for a name check.
The cockpit got back to us to let us know all had gone through
secondary clearance in LAX and were all ticketed to Islamabad,
Pakistan.
All
the guys kept going to the bathroom and now we were checking
the loos every time they came out. After 8A spoke with 14D,
he (14D) went to economy and went straight to the overhead in
32CDE, took out a briefcase and brought it back to his BC seat.
32E was where the economy passenger was originally seated, but
he had moved to 31G on the aisle. All the F/As were keeping
an eye on these three and every time we would casually look
at them, they were staring at us, watching everything we were
doing.
The
economy guy went to the back galley and kept the duty free sellers
busy by asking to see everything and having them open several
items to the point where one of them wrote on a piece of paper
to another F/A, "He's distracting us, see what's happening
in the cabin"....
I was
communicating all this information to the cockpit, as well as
our concerns. I don't think they took it as seriously as we
did. That was until the economy guy went to the F/As in the
back and asked them if we had been up in the air for 3 1/2 hours
yet. He kept asking when 3 1/2 hours would be. At the same time,
the 14D guy went up to the BC F/As and asked if we'd been flying
3, 3 1/2 or 4 hours yet.
Now
most passengers ask how much longer we have to go and not if
we've been flying a specific time, and we figured with all their
drinking, they didn't want to know the time so they could face
Mecca for their prayers.
UAL
and the pilots decided we needed to divert before we got over
the Atlantic (we were about 3 1/2 hours out from LAX, over the
Hudson Bay) so we did a slow turn and descent to Boston for
1:50 hours.
About
5 minutes before landing, the Captain made announcement we had
a navigational problem that needed to be looked at before we
crossed the ocean. We were all watching the guys when they were
told we were landing, and none reacted abnormally.
We
moved a very muscular passenger to seat 1E on the aisle and
an SA (space available passenger) to seat 1A and told them we
had security issues and if anyone not in uniform came up the
aisle towards the cockpit, they were to try and do anything
to stop them.
We
also moved one of the F/As sitting up front (she is 5 foot and
weighs about 100 pounds) to another jumpseat and moved another
male F/A up front so there were three guys in the jumpseats
by the cockpit.
The
landing was normal, and very quiet on the plane since it was
0300 and most passengers were asleep when we woke them. We pulled
to the gate, but the jetway didn't come toward us for two minutes.
I looked out and saw about 30 swat team guys in flak jackets
and machine guns. Well, I guess everyone figured out at this
point it was not a navigational problem.
As
I went to door 2, the guy in 8A was staring out the window at
our welcoming party. The guy in 14D was on his mobile phone
and he was later observed hiding the phone in the pillow when
the armed guys came on board. 20 swat team guys boarded the
plane, ten down each aisle with guns ready.
The
FBI, TSA, Joint Terrorism Task Force Rep, Boston Police, Airport
Police and Massachusetts State Troopers interviewed the Captain,
the two F/As who had the most contact with them and me for two
hours. The FBI also interviewed the passengers sitting around
the guys. The FBI asked the Captain when he realized the severity
of the situation, and he replied, "When he saw the fear
in the eyes of his crew..."
By
the time we got to the hotel, we were already on the news, and
several hours later, we heard the passengers were interviewed,
cleared and released. The FBI told me they felt they were on
a test run surveillance flight, observing and watching our routine
and looking for weaknesses in our security. All the authorities
reassured us we did the right thing and that was backed up by
the passengers who thanked us and said that they were so glad
we watching out for their well being. I think as F/As, we sense
when something just isn't right, and this flight had too many
small incidents that didn't add up, and thankfully, we acted
on our feelings.
