Two other blog reports corroborate at least in part the testimony of Tedd Petruna as reported by Rebecca Bynum at New English review. The reports can be found at:
http://oldnfo.blogspot.com/2009/11/testing-testing.html
which includes the following additional information about Petruna:
This has been a subject of discussion amongst a few of us for a couple of weeks. The person's account below is known to three of our group, and he is NOT a whiner or complainer...
He's an ex-Navy diver, working for a government organization; he has travelled extensively world-wide. This is his account of what happened on Flight 297 on the taxiway and at the gate in Atlanta...
and
http://newenglishreview.org/blog_display.cfm/blog_id/24487
Chaplain Dr. Keith A. Robinson is another eyewitness to the incident we reported last night about Air Tran flight 292 from Atlanta to Houston on November 17th.
Follow the link to the pdf file for Robinson's account.
22 comments:
Don't discredit this story, though snopes tries to.
They didn't believe Annie Jacobsen, either. But search Northwest flight 327 and her name.
And they didn't believe Actor Ed Wood when he reported a dry run a few weeks before 9/11 and no one else on his flight did.
It is in the interest of the airlines and security to see that incidents like this are played down. Unfortunately, contra to THEIR interests it is in OUR (everyone's) interests that this stuff gets plastered wall to wall when it happens or they will slip through.
It's coming again, and it will be big and nasty, and someone will have seen something earlier and said "nah, that can't be what's going on."
If you see something say something. Better to be alive and wrong than dead and right.
LOL
That would be James Woods, not Ed Wood.
:)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Wood
I have heard James Woods interviewed about that experience. He tried to alert the FBI and they did not pay attention.
You are right that the airlines want to keep this stuff hush hush.
You know what does not ring true in this story is the oh-so-macho way the guy describing it handled the situation.
Remember your story about the guy who tried to break into your house? That had the ring of truth. This story does not.
However, that does not mean it is not true.
It could be true.
That was James Woods, MR. Ed Wood was the director who used to like to wear pink angora sweaters and made the classic all-time worst movie, "Plan 9 From Outer Space".
Which sounds like what went on, on that plane. Searching around the blogs I notice commentors saying they are going to ask friends/relatives who are air marshals, etc. what the scuttlebutt is. If I can get hold of my nephew, who is a Jet Blue flight attendant, I'll see if he knows anything.
I agree with you that this has been played down by the airline to try to avoid a lawsuit and probably by DHS and other officials as well. Let's see what turns up in the next few days.
Sorry about all the problems getting this post up. I swear I'm going senile or blind or both.
Whoops! You're right.
You should have seen how I mangled a comment on the Desiree Rogers post. Had to delete the whole damn thing and start over.
I agree with your thinking on the macho part. The guy's likely embellishing that part of it (but hey, he's from Texas, you gotta expect that). He may have intervened but not quite as forcefully as he states here.
But I think his story is closer to the truth than the airline's.
The Texan may or may not have been embellishing, but Robinson's report is similar in enough details about the behavior of the muslims and the plane crew to make the story worth pursuing. As I said earlier, there could be different things going on at opposite ends of an airplane that would not be apparent to everyone in the cabin. On 9/11 apparently the passengers at the back of coach didn't know a hijacking was in progress and thought it was a medical emergency up in first class.
I think this story is going to turn out to be interesting once a few more reports come out.
RRA,
I agree.
It's worth looking into.
I read both stories again and while it appears the two men were never on the plane at the same time, the stories do mesh. Petruna was apparently in the group of passengers that Robinson saw angrily leave the plane, perhaps it was he that Robinson spoke with but there is no way to tell.
I'm going to hear Wafa Sultan speak down south of Boston tomorrow night so it should also be interesting to find out if anyone at that talk knows something about this.
Can't wait to hear your report.
If you take any photos, email them to me and I'll post them for you.
Well the chaplain's statement is interesting to say the least.
Why did only 12 people get off the plane?
If I am on that aircraft and the incident goes down as he reported, then I get off every time the airline says these kinds of people can fly. So should all of the passengers. AirTran then gets to decide what policy changes can encompass such behvavior
As RRA pointed out, the cooroboration may be recursive. And and Past points out, the initial reactive agent may be embellishing. I hardly think that he was thinking about whether apparently muslim men had dispensation to watch porn, at the time.
And it could entirelly be a hoax, except that I still think it instructive. Jihadis, though ready for death, want to be successful. Early awareness and reaction can prevent attack, -actually applies more universally than only to jihadis- even if local authorities are committed to not seeing the problem.
Macus said: I hardly think that he was thinking about whether apparently muslim men had dispensation to watch porn
I say: Yeah, that was one of the parts of the story that struck me as being a little hard to believe.
in the comments over at oldnfo blog - it says:
Dr. Keith Robinson, who also witnessed the incident, is scheduled to be on the Steve Gill Show Thursday at 10 am Central Time to talk about the story. www.gillreport.com
listen live here
Steve Gill is talking about this now!
Tune in . . .will cover with witness Ted Petruda (getting threats from NASA, employer) (getting threats from practioners of Islam as well) in third hour . Article posted on Gill Report too.
Here's the blurb from GillReport.com
"The media reports about an incident aboard an AirTran flight from Atlanta to Houston on November 17 sound pretty innocent. CLICK HERE. At least until you get the rest of the story and learn that the "group" on the plane that were so disruptive were Muslim men! CLICK HERE.
And another passenger confirms the details of the seeming effort to test the defenses of the flight crew. CLICK HERE. We will talk to Dr. Keith Robinson, one of the passengers on the AirTran flight, on the Steve Gill Show TODAY! Here is more about Keith. CLICK HERE.
The taking of pictures of other passengers is a chilling echo of Mumbai.
I'd have put on a yarmulke and asked them to pose with me. Then taken THEIR pictures.
I read the AJC's interview with the woman passenger who was sitting behind CellPhoneGuy#1. Funny we have two separate accounts (Petruna and the passenger to whom Robinson spoke) about disruptive behavior by 11 men, yet this woman saw nothing but what she implies was a pushy flight attendant.
Does the phrase "I just don't want to get involved" come to mind? If this woman flies frequently she may be very much aware of the consequences of making a fuss about "flying imams".
How did the interviews today turn out? I have to head out on my meandering way to Wafa Sultan's talk tonight.
I thought the Doctors interview on Gill was illuminating. He did clarify that his report of events was not based on a first interview with Mr Petruna, but another unfortunately unamed person who disembarked. He directly disputed Petruna's assessment of the disruptive passengers dress. -Or perhaps our assupmtions about what "full attire" means. (had shoes and everything?)- He also mentioned how he began writing notes of that which was related to him while still on the plane. May be why his account doesn't include odd refernces to porongrapy despensations.
- odd references to pornography despensations-
I havn't started drinking this early. Honest.
Macus says:I havn't started drinking this early. Honest.
I say: Heh.
Sure, Macus.
You want to offer some PROOF?
LOL
What is AJC?
Atlanta Journal Constitution
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