Big scare on Denver-bound airliner may have resulted from man trying to sneak a smoke

AP source: Man on flight possibly sneaking smoke

DENVER — A Qatari diplomat trying to sneak a smoke in an airplane bathroom sparked a bomb scare Wednesday night on a flight from Washington to Denver, with fighter jets scrambled and law enforcement put on high alert, officials said.

No explosives were found on the man, and officials do not believe he was trying to harm anyone, according to a senior law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

An Arab diplomat briefed on the matter identified the diplomat as Mohammed Al-Madadi.

The sources asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

Officials said air marshals aboard the flight restrained the man and he was questioned. The plane landed safely as military jets were scrambled.

Flights continued to land and take off at Denver International Airport, one of the nation’s busiest. Passengers from other flights picked up their luggage in the airport’s baggage area, apparently unaware of any emergency.

A senior State Department official said the agency was aware of the tentative identification of the man as a Qatari diplomat and that there would be “consequences, diplomatic and otherwise” if he had committed a crime.

The latest edition of department’s Diplomatic List, a registry of foreign diplomats working in the United States, identifies a man named Mohammed Yaaqob Y.M. Al-Madadi as the third secretary for the Qatari Embassy in Washington. Third secretary is a relatively low-ranking position at any diplomatic post and it was not immediately clear what his responsibilities would have been.

Foreign diplomats in the United States, like American diplomats posted abroad, have broad immunity from prosecution. The official said if the man’s identity as a Qatari diplomat was confirmed and if it was found that he may have committed a crime, U.S. authorities would have to decide whether to ask Qatar to waive his diplomatic immunity so he could be charged and tried. Qatar could decline, the official said, and the man would likely be expelled from the United States.

The Boeing 757 was carrying 157 passengers and six crew members, said Michael Trevino, a spokesman for United Airlines. The flight left Reagan National Airport at 5:19 p.m. EDT and landed in Denver International Airport at 7 p.m. MDT, Trevino said.

The flight crew radioed air traffic control to ask that the flight be met on the ground by law enforcement, he said.

Associated Press writers Eileen Sullivan, Matthew Lee, Matt Apuzzo, Joan Lowy, Pauline Jelinek and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and Judith Kohler and Ivan Moreno in Denver contributed to this report.