First Class Passenger Removed At Gunpoint Off Alaska Airlines Flight

A bulkhead first class passenger on Thursday night’s Alaska Airlines flight AS755 from Seattle to Anchorage was removed from the aircraft at gunpoint on arrival in Alaska.

The flight crew had radioed ahead that they “possibly had an armed passenger on the plane” after the passenger allegedly “made a statement that he would shoot other passengers or blow up the plane.” There were no weapons on board.


Seattle – Anchorage is about the length of East Coast – Denver

On arrival,

officers stepped onto the plane with their guns drawn and ordered the man to come with them.

“The guy, he was just kinda, ‘What, what’s going on – what the heck?'” Klein said. “They pulled him off and then pulled him in (to the jetway), and then that was the last I saw of him.”

Other first class passengers were held 15 minutes for questioning. A passenger sitting two rows behind the man “didn’t notice any unusual behavior during the flight.” The airport police chief says no passengers were in danger from armed officers were drawn weapons because the guy they were after was seated ‘up front’.

The man wasn’t apparently arrested, though police claim he “showed signs of intoxication” (although the airline won’t confirm that he had anything to drink during the flight).

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. The guy is most likely a Trump supporter from Alaska. Just another nut case who thinks America isn’t great. He probably can see Russia from his front door.

  2. you know Mark, that comment is emblematic of what’s going on in the US and totally uncalled for.

  3. Just another Clinton supporter that still can’t handle the results of the election!

  4. Should not matter who he supports. Threatening to shoot or blow up plane is sad. He gets what he deserves.

  5. So let me get this straight Mark. Because he “said something totally stupid” whole possibly intoxicated. He must be a Trump supporter? You narrow minded twit, your comment makes you seem like a fool. Have a wonderful weekend.

  6. Maybe the airlines should consider an alternative soulution when serving alcohol to people who react belligerent. Otherwise the airlines are in the wrong for serving this guy way too much that it got to that point.

  7. Mark’s just some jobless disgruntled troll still living in his parents basement still playing video games. With that mentality, and sense of entitlement can we expect anything more from his generation? Maybe u should go grow a beard,go live in the mountains and write a manifesto

  8. Thats why they should encourage all law abiding citizens to pack heat! Also, be more lenient on justified homicide. If someone acts a fool in front of a crowd and puts the crowd in danger, the crowd needs to eliminate the danger immediately. By the time you call the police and wait, its already too late majority of the time.

  9. Mark,
    Before you make a statement like seeing Russia from Alaska you may want to research it.
    If you are on little dolamade island , which belongs to the USA, you can see big dolamade, which belongs to Russia. They are 2 miles apart.

  10. Mark….suck it up and grow up! Are you going to act that way for the 8 years!?

  11. Probably a Bernie-bro as socialists seem to me so violent–like the recent Portland dude who killed two men with a knife after screaming racial epithets. Typical bad hombres.

  12. I suppose Trump is responsible for the cheese in your fridge going moldy too. #democratebabies

  13. Marc must be one of the alt-left nut cases, so to say in even terms.

  14. Did the guy have a gun? If he did the Seatle TSA group should be in hot water….Was he drunk? Wonder why the aircrew cried wolf if they did not verify if the guy had been drinking? A plane is not the venue to talk about things they said he did though.

  15. American morale has been at a low point for years. Why shouldn’t it be, after pointless restart buttons and imaginary lines in the sand. Worst of all was Obama’s apology tour. America has always been great, being “great again” just gives us the ability to be proud of America, and may I also say, merry CHRISTmas.

  16. Marks comment was uncalled for? It was not. The huge increase in acts of violence by Trumpeteers against order, civility and human rights was and continues to be sanctioned by the right. It is a pattern sanctioned by the Liar King and his brainless adherents, including the, as always, evangelical whacks, hypocrites all.
    So we with a brain should just smile, endure the destruction of a nation without expressing our anger?
    Is there a day that goes by where we do not see yet another move by the entire Republican party in the direction of destruction, bigotry, hypocrisy, selfishness, pettiness, outright stupidity?
    Go ahead, Mark, take a page from the right wing book. Throw it back into their faces

  17. Lol. So there’s a possibility of the following: a first class pass request a drink. FA gladly give and refill, forget to watch if the pass drunk or not. When the pass was drunk, the FA refuse to pour the drink. The pass threaten and the FA call the police.

    If this is true, I would love being an FA. I screw up my job (get a passenger drunk) but I’m a hero for calling the police of potential terrorist. Lol

  18. If you act and look shady you should definitely be stopped and questioned. If you act and talk like a 5errorist you should be jailed.

  19. The guy likely made no such comment as no other passengers could corroborate. Likely he gave the flight attendant some attitude so he/she decided to swat him… you know that first rate airline customer service

  20. Gary:

    You really need to start banning some of these idiots.

    Those of us trying to read here and learn and exchange info do not have unlimited time in our lives to wade through inane political crap from halfwits.

    We can go elsewhere.

  21. I thought it was the anti Trump mob that behaved like fascist retards, not tolerating not getting their way, bunch of cry babies. They lost, they throw tanties. Lol.

  22. if anyone had the brains to look at statistics/science they’d know that far more people die from police shootings than terrorism. In fact, an average American is 170 TIMES more likely to die in the hands of a cop than a terrorist. Screw that!. 55 times more people die from TVs falling on them than in the hands of a terrorist.

    People who make blanketed statements like “if he says this, then jail him”, “if he says that, then shoot him” are just incredibly dumb.

  23. Don’t be so hard on Mark. He’s still acting far, far more mature than our so-called Prez.

  24. I feel “total and complete vindication”. 🙂 Have a great weekend and travel safely!

  25. So if the guy didn’t go with the cops, what were they going to do empty their clips into him and those around him?

  26. I wish Gary would just delete the comments that are off topic. Oh wait…why did I read all of those? 🙂

  27. Wait if he made threats to shoot other passengers or blow up the plane then why the hell wasn’t he arrested? If it turns out he didn’t make those statements then why were those claims being conveyed to law enforcement? If someone is making false reports why are they not being arrested?

  28. Everyone is an idiot except Richard. LOL. I guess he’s upset that his Trump University diploma isn’t paying off for him. Oh well.

  29. What were the officers going to do with drawn firearms? Assume the passenger is possibly armed, but no weapon showing. A shot by the police risks bystanders, or a through-and-through going through the skin of the aircraft.

    Why not try non-lethal methods, e.g., taser, first, especially in close spaces.

    This argues for much better police training.

Comments are closed.