An armed federal air marshal, mistaken for a passenger by a flight attendant, ‘flashed a gun in flight’ and was promptly arrested on arrival at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
He was seen being led away in handcuffs on the tarmac along with a second air marshal.
The marshal was ‘on official business onboard a flight [and] was mistaken for a passenger by a flight attendant,’ a TSA statement said.
“Protocols for notification of law enforcement presence aboard an aircraft are in place to avoid incidents like this. TSA is working with the airline to determine the specific circumstances in this case,” the agency said.
It seems correct protocols were not followed.
“That is completely against standard operating procedure for them to show their firearm so that’s the reason we declared an emergency,” the pilot said, according to cockpit audio obtained by website Liveatc.net.
The actions of airport police and FBI officers at MSP was defended by airport spokesman Patrick Hogan.
“Our first priority is always to ensure everyone’s safety, and that involves first creating a separation between the public and suspicious objects or individuals and then determining whether or not the individual or object presents an actual threat. That is precisely what happened,” he said.
The drama happened on United Airlines Flight 3531, operated by affiliate Republic Airways which had arrived from Newark.
