An investigation into the government’s handling of the suspicious activities of 14 Syrian men aboard a flight to Los Angeles is expected to be released today, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General’s Office.
A freelance journalist who was on Northwest Airlines Flight 327 later wrote about the incident, sparking a debate between those who thought she was paranoid and those who believe the men were casing the flight for a real hijacking.
Annie Jacobsen, an online columnist for Women’s Wall Street, said Friday that she has been informed that most of the information in the investigation will be classified.
“For an event where supposedly nothing happened,” said Jacobsen, “that speaks volumes.”
Government officials have questioned Jacobsen and her husband’s account aboard the June 29, 2004, flight from Detroit to Los Angeles. The men told authorities they were members of a backup band hired to play with Nour Mehana, who has been dubbed the Syrian Wayne Newton.
On the plane, the men kept going to the restroom and would congregate in the rear, scrutinizing the passengers, Jacobsen has said. As the plane prepared for landing, they ignored warnings from the attendants to sit, Jacobsen said. And when the last man came out of the bathroom, he ran his forefinger across his neck and mouthed the word “No,” Jacobsen wrote.
Upon landing, the men were questioned by agents. A spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement later confirmed that 13 of the 14 musicians were using expired visas, but the men were not detained, according to news accounts.
Investigation of
“Terror” flight to be revealed
» Department of Homeland Security officials had issued an “unusually specific internal warning” the day of the flight.
» The House Judiciary Committee has also looked into the incident.
» Annie Jacobsen has turned her experience into a book, “Terror in the Skies.”
