A Yemeni man on a San Francisco bound flight was overheard yelling "God is great" in Arabic before repeatedly ramming his shoulder into the cockpit door in an attempt to gain entry.
Rageh Al-Murisi, 28, is being held by authorities without bail for interfering with flight crew members on an American airlines commercial flight. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elise Becker explained why the charges are so serious.
"He attempted to enter the cockpit right before a critical part of the flight," she said. Witnesses report that Al-Murisi repeatedly yelled "Allahu Akbar", Arabic for "God is great", before attempting to bash his way into the cockpit.
The same phrase was yelled by the hijackers of Flight 93 on 9/11 before they killed the pilots and took control of the plane.
Fortunately, there was a retired Secret Service agent on board as well as a retired police officer. They assisted the flight crew in bringing down the crazed man and subduing him. Upon landing, Al-Murisi was taken into custody.
Authorities say Al-Murisi has no known ties to terrorism, and have not established a motive for the man's actions, although it comes a little over a week after U.S. soldiers took out Bin Laden.
Does this event make you fearful of future attacks?
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