FAA: The United Flight 2609 incident was similar to ‘Shoe Bomber Case’

BOSTON — The disturbing passenger meltdown caught on video while onboard the Boston-bound United Flight 2609 from LA on Sunday, looks all too familiar to former FAA Security Special Agent Anthony Amore.

In 2001, 100 days after 911, Amore was one of the first to respond to Logan Airport where a Paris to Miami American Airlines flight was diverted when Shoe Bomber Richard Reid was taken into custody.

Reid was an Al Qaida terrorist.

Passengers subdued him midflight as he tied to detonate his shoes which were packed with explosives.

“There are some similarities and of course, this does not turn out to be an al-Qaeda operative, but in the moment, you don’t know that,” Amore said.

Authorities allege before the video begins, 33-year-old Francisco Torres of Leominster had already tried to open the emergency exit door before launching into a rant and threatening to commit mass murder.

The video also shows Torres walking towards toward the cockpit, where he allegedly assaults a flight attendant with a broken spoon, before passengers take matters into their own hands, tackling Torres to the floor.

“The heroism is really what is remarkable here and it’s really heartening to see the two people and then more who chased after this guy on this United flight and made sure the flight landed safely,” Amore said.

In this case, and in Shoe Bomber Richard Reid case, passengers ended the threat, not federal Air Marshals.

Amore tells me, he’s not surprised.

“There never was capacity to put Air Marshals on every flight, so TSA uses a method to target which aircraft are at highest risk, which is a sensible approach. This particular flight does not appear to have had Air Marshals.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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