Ron Klein could not wait to fly home to Anchorage.
“It’s a long flight, second flight of the day, ready to come home,” said Klein as he flew home from a week in Cleveland.
However, he and the rest of Alaska Airlines Flight 755 faced an unexpected delay as soon as the jet landed from Seattle and made its way to the gate.
“Then came over the radio. The pilot said he had a man in seat 1-F, that was threatening to shoot passengers on the plane,” Ted Stevens International Airport Police and Fire Chief Jesse Davis said.
He said the jet slowly made its way to Gate 3, where his officers had already arrived to greet it.
“We were able to respond before the plane even got to the gate, now, we’re just waiting for the plane to do its thing,” Davis said.
Meanwhile, Klein sat two rows behind the suspect, unaware of what was happening just several feet away from him.
Earphones drowned out the commotion until police boarded the jet.
“Next thing I saw was a police next to the door of the cockpit, with a weapon drawn, ordering the man in the front row to leave the airplane,” Klein said.
He said the unidentified suspect seemed oblivious to what happened.
“He said what I’d do? What’s going on here,” recalled Klein by phone.
“There was a little bit of resistance, perhaps because he was surprised, if anything, but, there was no active aggression towards the officers or other passengers or flight crew,” said Davis.
Passengers left the jet after police gave the all clear.
Klein noticed something on the ground on the jet way.
“When I left the airplane, I saw the guy’s shoes, a ball cap, and broken sunglasses,” said Klein.
“There were signs of inebriation, intoxication with the individual,” said Davis, who added investigators still have no motive for why the suspect made the threats.
It took airport police 11 minutes to get the situation under control, as for Klein…
“Glad I’m in Anchorage.”
The post Passenger recounts bomb threat incident on Alaska Air flight appeared first on KTVA 11.
