Experts: Lack of communication before plane incident

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES

A man acted strangely long before he caused a disturbance on a plane that prompted fighter jets to accompany it to Hawaii, but a lack of communication and an airline’s hesitancy to be caught on video booting a passenger could have played a role in allowing him to fly, experts say.

Anil Uskanli, 25, of Turkey, had purchased a ticket at an airline counter in the middle of the night with no luggage and had been arrested after opening a door to a restricted airfield at Los Angeles International Airport. Airport police did not notify the airline, but they said it isn’t common practice.

After bizarre behavior on board Friday, including trying to get to the front of the jet, he was arrested by FBI agents and charged with interfering with a flight crew.

A federal judge on Monday ordered him to undergo a mental competency evaluation, which Uskanli’s attorney said he requested based on conversations with his client that he would not detail.

The first alarm should have been Uskanli buying his ticket around midnight with no bags other than a laptop, a phone and items in his pocket, said Doren Pely, a director at TAL Global, an international security consulting firm focusing on aviation security.

But Uskanli went through a security screening without raising suspicion and only drew the attention when he opened a door leading to an airfield ramp around 2:45 a.m.

Airport police said he smelled of alcohol but was not intoxicated enough to be charged with public drunkenness, so he was given a summons to appear in court and released.

Police said officers confiscated his boarding pass and walked him to a public area of the airport. He got another boarding pass and went through security again.

Uskanli went to a different airport terminal, requested a wheelchair and was brought to the gate, American Airlines spokesman Ross Feinstein said. Flight attendants helped Uskanli at the door of the plane, authorities said.

Uskanli’s urine test revealed the presence benzodiazepine, a tranquilizer, and a field sobriety test indicated possible use of stimulants or cannabis, authorities said.