TPMMuckraker AirTran Flight 297
Tedd Petruna
New Docs On Disputed AirTran Flight Shows No Muslim Hijack Attempt
Justin Elliott | February 23, 2010, 6:17PM
A scene from the 1997 film Air Force One
In the end there was no amateur porn viewing. There was no shout of "infidel dog!" There were no Muslim hijackers.
FAA documents obtained by TPMmuckraker through the Freedom of Information Act thoroughly debunk NASA diver Tedd Petruna's tale of a thwarted hijacking aboard AirTran Flight 297 in Atlanta last November.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (31) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)Topics: AirTran, AirTran Flight 297, Federal Aviation Administration, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Tedd Petruna
AirTran Flight 297
Flight 297 Passenger: Tedd Petruna Is 'Living In A Fantasy World'
Justin Elliott | December 8, 2009, 11:38AM
Flight 297 passenger Brent Brown
A security consultant who was a passenger on AirTran Flight 297 says the man who claims he thwarted porn-watching Muslim hijackers clearly fabricated the story, but Brent Brown adds that the airline's version of events underplays the seriousness of what happened.
Brown told WSBTV that Tedd Petruna, who says a group of Muslim terrorists were casing the plane, is "living in a fantasy world." (Petruna now has his own hash tag on Twitter.)
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (43) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (7)Topics: AirTran, AirTran Flight 297, Brent Brown, Federal Aviation Administration, Hijackers' Dry Run?, Tedd Petruna
AirTran Flight 297
FAA: Probe Found No Violations On 'Muslim Hijacking' Flight
Justin Elliott | December 7, 2009, 3:40PM
An AirTran Boeing 717
The Federal Aviation Administration investigated an episode in which an AirTran flight was taxied back to the gate in Atlanta last month and found no violations of safety rules, another blow to the story of a NASA employee who says he helped thwart a dry run of Muslim hijackers on the plane.
"The FAA is charged with enforcing civil air safety violations and among those are rules that require passengers to comply with flight attendant instructions and about use of electronic devices," FAA spokesperson Kathleen Bergen tells TPMmuckraker. "We found no violations of the regulations." She said the investigation of the Nov. 17 incident was closed Friday.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (24) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: AirTran, AirTran Flight 297, Federal Aviation Administration, Hijackers' Dry Run?, Muslims, Tedd Petruna
AirTran Flight 297
NASA Diver Insists Tale Of Porn-Watching Muslim Hijackers Is True, Despite Discrepancies
Justin Elliott | December 7, 2009, 1:39PM
A scene from the 1997 film Air Force One
A man who claims he witnessed a "dry run" by Muslim hijackers on a plane at Atlanta's airport last month told TPMmuckraker this morning he is standing by his story, despite several holes in the tale and the carrier's claim he was not even on the plane.
In an email account of his experience that went national on right-wing blogs last week, Tedd Petruna describes a group of 11 Muslim men "in full attire" who created a disturbance on a Nov. 17 AirTran flight on the runway at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (127) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (10)Topics: AirTran, AirTran Flight 297, Hijackers' Dry Run?, Muslims, NASA, Raytheon, Tedd Petruna, War on Terror
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