United Airlines Flight 663 incident
Encyclopedia
The United Airlines Flight 663 incident was a "minor international incident
" in 2010 involving a Qatar
i diplomat
on the leg of a United Airlines
flight from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
(Washington, DC) to Denver International Airport
(Denver, Colorado). The diplomat prompted a mid-air terrorism
alert after smoking in the airplane lavatory, which led the Qatari government to recall him two days later. United no longer uses Flight 663 as a DCA-DEN-LAS route instead as a SAN-SFO-HNL route.
, continuing on to Las Vegas International Airport using a different aircraft than the one that operated the Washington–Denver flight. On April 7, 2010, a disturbance involving a passenger happened en route from Washington, DC to Denver. Officials identified the passenger as Mohammed al-Madadi, a diplomat
from the Embassy of Qatar in Washington, D.C. Officials took al-Madadi into custody, and the plane landed safely in Denver. The North American Aerospace Defense Command
scrambled two F-16 fighters to intercept and escort the plane into Denver. Officials said the incident was a misunderstanding after al-Madadi attempted to smoke a pipe in the lavatory, then made "an unfortunate remark" after being confronted by two members of the Federal Air Marshal Service
. Law enforcement officials said al-Madadi mentioned "lighting his shoes," taken as a reference to shoe bomber Richard Reid
.
Qatari Ambassador to the United States Ali Bin Fahad Al-Hajri
issued a statement on the Embassy website:
The Associated Press reported that al-Madadi was traveling on official Embassy business to visit Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri
, a jailed al-Qaeda
conspirator held at United States Penitentiary, Florence
. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano
praised the air marshals, who had been deployed in greater numbers following the attempted in-air bombing by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
on December 25, 2009.
Felony
charges would be applicable for non-diplomats. U.S. officials said al-Madadi would not face criminal charges because of diplomatic immunity
. The suspect was released following interviews with law enforcement officials. United States Department of State
officials said al-Madadi was removed from the country by Qatar, rather than being declared persona non grata
by the U.S. government and expelled from the United States. Al-Madadi left the United States on April 9, 2010. Qatar's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Mahmood said that al-Madadi will be disciplined.
rarely lead to more than a fine. Because of this, the Washington Post reported that some diplomats felt that the incident was a case of racial profiling
of Arabs and Muslims. A Wall Street Journal editorial asserted that new profiling techniques based on behavior enjoy "widespread public support." A Scripps News editorial agreed, stating "the success so far of preventing a reprise of 9/11 may just depend on the highest-level reaction and then sorting it all out later." One passenger, author Michael Lind
, argued in the Financial Times
that "there should have been a debate about overreaction to false alarms. I am as angry as anyone at the Qatari diplomat who escaped prosecution thanks to diplomatic immunity. But the incident was the result of the toxic interaction between his arrogance and foolishness and an airline security system that is irrational as a whole."
In Qatar, the incident provoked criticism of the foreign ministry. An editorial by Ahmad Al Sulaiti in the daily Al-Watan
called the event "embarrassing," adding, "While I do not intend to give lessons to the foreign ministry, I wish [Minister] Al Mahmood would tell me if our diplomats are properly groomed before they are sent to our embassies abroad and whether they acquire skills from our veteran ambassadors." Al Mahmood replied that the incident was "an individual misjudgment that should not be over-generalised."
International incident
An international incident is a seemingly relatively small or limited action or clash that results in a wider dispute between two or more nation-states...
" in 2010 involving a Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
i diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
on the leg of a United Airlines
United Airlines
United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...
flight from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is a public airport located south of downtown Washington, D.C., in Arlington County, Virginia. It is the commercial airport nearest to Washington, D.C. For many decades, it was called Washington National Airport, but this airport was renamed in 1998 to...
(Washington, DC) to Denver International Airport
Denver International Airport
Denver International Airport , often referred to as DIA, is an airport in Denver, Colorado. By land size, at , it is the largest international airport in the United States, and the third largest international airport in the world after King Fahd International Airport and Montréal-Mirabel...
(Denver, Colorado). The diplomat prompted a mid-air terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
alert after smoking in the airplane lavatory, which led the Qatari government to recall him two days later. United no longer uses Flight 663 as a DCA-DEN-LAS route instead as a SAN-SFO-HNL route.
2010 incident
Flight 663 was a flight between Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC and Denver International AirportDenver International Airport
Denver International Airport , often referred to as DIA, is an airport in Denver, Colorado. By land size, at , it is the largest international airport in the United States, and the third largest international airport in the world after King Fahd International Airport and Montréal-Mirabel...
, continuing on to Las Vegas International Airport using a different aircraft than the one that operated the Washington–Denver flight. On April 7, 2010, a disturbance involving a passenger happened en route from Washington, DC to Denver. Officials identified the passenger as Mohammed al-Madadi, a diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
from the Embassy of Qatar in Washington, D.C. Officials took al-Madadi into custody, and the plane landed safely in Denver. The North American Aerospace Defense Command
North American Aerospace Defense Command
North American Aerospace Defense Command is a joint organization of Canada and the United States that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and defense for the two countries. Headquarters NORAD is located at Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado...
scrambled two F-16 fighters to intercept and escort the plane into Denver. Officials said the incident was a misunderstanding after al-Madadi attempted to smoke a pipe in the lavatory, then made "an unfortunate remark" after being confronted by two members of the Federal Air Marshal Service
Federal Air Marshal Service
The Federal Air Marshal Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the supervision of the Transportation Security Administration of the United States Department of Homeland Security...
. Law enforcement officials said al-Madadi mentioned "lighting his shoes," taken as a reference to shoe bomber Richard Reid
Richard Reid (shoe bomber)
Richard Colvin Reid , also known as the Shoe Bomber, is a self-admitted member of al-Qaeda who pled guilty in 2002 in U.S. federal court to eight criminal counts of terrorism stemming from his attempt to destroy a commercial aircraft in-flight by detonating explosives hidden in his shoes...
.
Qatari Ambassador to the United States Ali Bin Fahad Al-Hajri
Ali Bin Fahad Al-Hajri
Ali Bin Fahad Al-Shawany Al-Hajri , is a Qatari diplomat who currently serves as the Qatar Ambassador to the United States, Canada and Mexico...
issued a statement on the Embassy website:
Press reports today regarding an incident aboard a commercial flight from Washington, DC to Denver, CO indicate that a Qatari diplomat was detained for suspicious behavior. We respect the necessity of special security precautions involving air travel, but this diplomat was traveling to Denver on official Embassy business on my instructions, and he was certainly not engaged in any threatening activity. The facts will reveal that this was a mistake, and we urge all concerned parties to avoid reckless judgments or speculation.
The Associated Press reported that al-Madadi was traveling on official Embassy business to visit Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri
Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri
Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri is a citizen of Qatar who was arrested on charges of being a sleeper al Qaeda agent while studying at Bradley University in the United States. After denying any wrongdoing since his arrest, al-Marri pled guilty in a plea agreement to the federal charges on April 30, 2009...
, a jailed al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
conspirator held at United States Penitentiary, Florence
United States Penitentiary, Florence
The United States Penitentiary in Florence is a high security prison located in the Florence Federal Correctional Complex in Fremont County, Colorado, near Florence.-History:...
. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano
Janet Napolitano
Janet Napolitano is the third and current United States Secretary of Homeland Security, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She is the fourth person to hold the position, which was created after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the 21st...
praised the air marshals, who had been deployed in greater numbers following the attempted in-air bombing by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab , popularly referred to as the "Underwear Bomber", is a suspected terrorist who attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear while on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253, en route from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, on December 25,...
on December 25, 2009.
Felony
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
charges would be applicable for non-diplomats. U.S. officials said al-Madadi would not face criminal charges because of diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws...
. The suspect was released following interviews with law enforcement officials. United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
officials said al-Madadi was removed from the country by Qatar, rather than being declared persona non grata
Persona non grata
Persona non grata , literally meaning "an unwelcome person", is a legal term used in diplomacy that indicates a proscription against a person entering the country...
by the U.S. government and expelled from the United States. Al-Madadi left the United States on April 9, 2010. Qatar's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Mahmood said that al-Madadi will be disciplined.
Analysis and debate
The incident sparked international debate about how a matter of this nature should be handled. In the United States, some analysts objected that Qatar would not be asked to reimburse taxpayers, inconvenienced passengers, and the airline for costs of the incident. Though smoking was banned aboard U.S. commercial airliners in 1990, the cases brought by the Federal Aviation AdministrationFederal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
rarely lead to more than a fine. Because of this, the Washington Post reported that some diplomats felt that the incident was a case of racial profiling
Racial profiling
Racial profiling refers to the use of an individual’s race or ethnicity by law enforcement personnel as a key factor in deciding whether to engage in enforcement...
of Arabs and Muslims. A Wall Street Journal editorial asserted that new profiling techniques based on behavior enjoy "widespread public support." A Scripps News editorial agreed, stating "the success so far of preventing a reprise of 9/11 may just depend on the highest-level reaction and then sorting it all out later." One passenger, author Michael Lind
Michael Lind
Michael Lind is an American writer. Currently Lind is Policy Director of the Economic Growth Program at the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C., Editor of New American Contract and its blog Value Added, and a columnist for Salon magazine. Lind was a guest lecturer at Harvard Law School and...
, argued in the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
that "there should have been a debate about overreaction to false alarms. I am as angry as anyone at the Qatari diplomat who escaped prosecution thanks to diplomatic immunity. But the incident was the result of the toxic interaction between his arrogance and foolishness and an airline security system that is irrational as a whole."
In Qatar, the incident provoked criticism of the foreign ministry. An editorial by Ahmad Al Sulaiti in the daily Al-Watan
Al-Watan (Qatar)
Al-Watan is a daily morning Arabic language political newspaper based in Doha, Qatar. Al-Watan was founded in 1995 and was the first newspaper to be launched in Qatar after the Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, abolished press censorship. Its parent company is Dar Al-Watan Printing,...
called the event "embarrassing," adding, "While I do not intend to give lessons to the foreign ministry, I wish [Minister] Al Mahmood would tell me if our diplomats are properly groomed before they are sent to our embassies abroad and whether they acquire skills from our veteran ambassadors." Al Mahmood replied that the incident was "an individual misjudgment that should not be over-generalised."
External links
- TSA Statement on United Flight 663 via Transportation Security AdministrationTransportation Security AdministrationThe Transportation Security Administration is an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that exercises authority over the safety and security of the traveling public in the United States....
- Photo of Mohammed al-Madadi via Washington Life Magazine
- Video: Scare on a Flight to Denver via NBC NewsNBC NewsNBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...