May 31, 2004 at 11:25 am
An American Airlines flight attendant who told authorities she found a note saying there was a bomb in a jet’s cargo hold was charged Friday for writing the threatening letter, which caused the plane to be diverted.
Gay Wilson, 37, of Arlington, Texas, was charged with unlawful interference with an airline, a federal charge that carries up to a 20-year prison sentence, said Doug Riggin of the FBI (news – web sites) Joint Terrorism Task Force.
The jet flying Thursday from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Boston was diverted to Nashville after Wilson said she found the note in one of the plane’s lavatories.
The note read, “There is a bomb onboard this flt to Boston in cargo. Live Saddaam!” according to Nashville television station WSMV.
“She was one of the people we interviewed, and our investigation revealed that she was indeed the person responsible for the note,” Riggin said.
Riggin declined to discuss the motive for the bomb threat, citing the upcoming legal proceedings.
Wilson was arrested in Dallas and was scheduled for a court hearing Tuesday, Riggin said.
The 129 passengers got off the plane and were re-screened by the Transportation Security Administration and the FBI.
Investigators also examined a package taken from the plane that turned out to be harmless.
Riggin said the crew and passengers were put in jeopardy and inconvenienced by the incident, and the government expended a lot of resources for the investigation.
American Airlines spokesman John Hotard said the passengers were given rooms in local hotels.
The flight left Nashville for Boston around 7 a.m. Friday, with 120 passengers on board. Hotard said some passengers had made other arrangements to fly out of Nashville.