Initial reports of trouble on airliners nearly always turn out to be something less threatening, although sometimes just as strange, as the Catherine Mayo incident a week ago proved. Today, however, a diverted flight and the quick action of air marshals appear to have stopped some sort of mid-flight mischief between Amsterdam and Mumbai:

Twelve passengers were in custody Wednesday after a Northwest Airlines flight bound for Mumbai, India, returned to Amsterdam with a fighter jet escort, Dutch police said. ...

Some of the passengers pulled out cell phones during the flight and appeared to be trying to pass the cell phones to other passengers, a U.S. government official said.

In addition, some passengers unfastened their seatbelts while the light requiring they be fastened was still illuminated, the official said.

That was enough for U.S. air marshals aboard the DC-10 to break their cover. Flight attendants ordered the passengers to heed the orders of the marshals, the official added.

There was no intelligence indicating the flight was at risk, and authorities are still evaluating how much of a threat the passengers posed, officials said.

The passengers who were arrested were looking into plastic bags and were busy with their cell phones, an airline source in Amsterdam said.

That kind of activity seems very unusual and somewhat coordinated, at least from the initial descriptions. Many times these first reports turn out to be wild exaggerations, as was the case with the two "Asian" men who supposedly said that they had thirty minutes to live after getting on a plane in Malaga. In this case, official sources confirmed the sequence of events, and the dozen suspects will face unspecified charges and continued detention.

CNN has no report on whether the crew or investigators found any potential explosives on the airplane. This could have been a dry run, although the activity was so obviously conspicuous that it would be difficult to imagine that terrorists would have seriously thought theuy could succeed in completing such a test. The cell phones could have been intended to trigger a detonation -- perhaps in the checked luggage in the cargo hold of the plane, or maybe something planted on the aircraft by a crew member. That would explain why the twelve pulled their phones out so early in the flight, as cell service would be uncertain at best when the plane reached higher altitudes. It would also explain why Northwest grounded the flight for a full day rather than just refuel and get back in the air without the twelve troublemakers -- to free the craft for a detailed inspection, or to swap it with another plane altogether.

This incident shows the benefit of having air marshals on flights in the post-9/11 world. Apparently they remained incognito enough to surprise the suspects, and their quick action in taking over the cabin may have saved hundreds of lives. Congress needs to ensure that the program's funding remains high enough to guarantee sufficient protection for American travelers.

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» Northwest jet turns back; passengers arrested from Old War Dogs
Airline: Passengers unlatched seat belts, passed cell phones AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands (CNN) -- Twelve passengers were in custody Wednesday after a Northwest Airlines flight bound for Mumbai, India, returned to Amsterdam with a fighter jet escort, Dut... [Read More]

Tracked on August 23, 2006 9:56 PM

» Danger in the Dutch Skies from Public Secrets: from the files of the Irishspy
According to Walid Phares at The Counterterrorism Blog, a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India, turned around under Dutch fighter escort and returned to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport when passengers and crew noted ... [Read More]

Tracked on August 24, 2006 1:35 AM