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Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani, a mechanic for American Airlines, glued foam into a tube leading from outside an American Airlines plane to its air data module. As a result, if the plane had taken off that day from MIA, the pilots would have had to operate the aircraft manually because the ADM system would not have received any computer data.
None of the passengers and crew on the flight from Miami to Nassau were injured because his tampering with the air data module caused an error alert as the pilots powered up the plane’s engines on the runway July 17, according to a complaint affidavit.
At his detention hearing in September after his arrest, federal prosecutors suggested that Alani may have possible links to a Middle East terrorist group, but that allegation never came up at his plea hearing before U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke.
Alani lied to investigators about taking a trip in March to visit his brother in Iraq. His brother is a member of ISIS.
The FBI found "disturbing" ISIS videos on his phone, one of which he sent to someone along with a message in Arabic asking Allah to take revenge against non-Muslims.
Alani insisted that he never wanted to hurt anyone.
Alani told federal investigators that he disabled the aircraft’s navigation system on the morning of July 17 because he was upset over stalled union contract negotiations with the airline. He said he wanted to generate some overtime for maintenance on the plane.
He told the judge that he earns $7,000 to $8,000 a month from his job as a mechanic for American Airlines.
Alani now faces up to three years in prison under a joint recommendation by the U.S. attorney’s office and his defense lawyer.
Alani was not charged with a terrorism-related offense.
None of the passengers and crew on the flight from Miami to Nassau were injured because his tampering with the air data module caused an error alert as the pilots powered up the plane’s engines on the runway July 17, according to a complaint affidavit.
At his detention hearing in September after his arrest, federal prosecutors suggested that Alani may have possible links to a Middle East terrorist group, but that allegation never came up at his plea hearing before U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke.
Alani lied to investigators about taking a trip in March to visit his brother in Iraq. His brother is a member of ISIS.
The FBI found "disturbing" ISIS videos on his phone, one of which he sent to someone along with a message in Arabic asking Allah to take revenge against non-Muslims.
Alani insisted that he never wanted to hurt anyone.
Alani told federal investigators that he disabled the aircraft’s navigation system on the morning of July 17 because he was upset over stalled union contract negotiations with the airline. He said he wanted to generate some overtime for maintenance on the plane.
He told the judge that he earns $7,000 to $8,000 a month from his job as a mechanic for American Airlines.
Alani now faces up to three years in prison under a joint recommendation by the U.S. attorney’s office and his defense lawyer.
Alani was not charged with a terrorism-related offense.
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