An American Airlines mechanic who sabotaged a plane carrying 150 passengers was found to have ISIS-linked videos on his phone and had previously claimed that his brother was a member of the notorious terror group, ABC News reported.
Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani had worked as an airplane mechanic for 30 years prior to deliberately stuffing a piece of foam into the air data module (ADM) system of a Boeing 737 on July 17 at Miami International Airport and then clearing it for departure as scheduled. Fortunately, the plane’s warning systems alerted pilots to the malfunction, and they aborted the takeoff with no injuries to passengers or crew.
Alani was arrested after security video footage showed him tampering with the aircraft. He told authorities he had no intention of hurting anyone with his plan to cause a delay or cancellation of the flight and that he had simply been attempting to garner a bit of overtime to earn additional income during a union dispute. Alani apparently did clock four hours of overtime on the day of the incident in question.
The mechanic’s links to ISIS came to light during a court appearance on Wednesday. A judge denied Alani bail during the hearing, and he will remain in custody pending trial.
Terrorist sympathies
Alani was born in Iraq but is a U.S. citizen. An ISIS video depicting mass murders was found on his phone at the time of his arrest, and police said it had been sent to one of his saved contacts together with a message asking Allah to “use all your might and power against the Kafir,” which means unbelievers.
It was also reported to the court that Alani had visited his brother, a suspected member of ISIS, this past March in Iraq. Alani claimed that he had not actually seen his sibling during the trip, however, because he had allegedly been kidnapped.
Prosecutors showed pictures taken by Alani while in Iraq, and argued that they did not give the impression that he was in any sort of distress at the time. This, the prosecutors asserted, is rather incongruous for someone claiming to have been in the midst of a family crisis when the photos were snapped.
Alani’s attorney pointed out that his client was not on any terror watch lists, but the judge was persuaded that Alani had terrorist sympathies based on the evidence presented.
“What you did was at minimum highly reckless. It was unconscionable,” the judge told Alani.
Alani explains
Alani stated that he tampered with the plane “out of my evil side.” When he was asked if he would allow a relative of his to fly on a plane that had its ADM system tampered with, he admitted that he would not.
If convicted, Alani could face upwards of 20 years in prison.
Thus far, Alani has not been charged with terror-related offenses of any kind.
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