American Airlines mechanic pleads guilty to sabotaging plane in Miami: reports
Fox News, Dec 19, 2019

A California mechanic who worked for American Airlines for more than 30 years has pleaded guilty to tampering with an aircraft in a deal to avoid a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to reports.

Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani, 60, admitted using a piece of foam to sabotage the plane’s air module system — which reports aircraft speed, pitch, and other flight data to pilots — on a July 17 flight from Miami to the Bahamas with 150 passengers aboard the aircraft.

“I do admit the guilt,” he said through an Arabic interpreter in Miami federal court Wednesday, according to the Miami Herald.

Alani — who lived in California, but commuted to Miami International Airport — told prosecutors he didn’t want to harm any passengers when he tampered with the navigation system, but when asked if he would take his own family on a jet without one, he replied “No.”

None of the 150 passengers on the plane was injured from his attempted sabotage because the plane never left the ground, authorities said.

An error alert appeared as pilots were powering up the aircraft, which caused the flight to be aborted and taken out of service for routine maintenance, according to the outlet. Passengers were subsequently moved to another plane.

Alani told federal investigators he disabled the system that morning because he was upset about how union contract negotiations with the airline had stalled. He said he wanted to make additional overtime for maintenance on the plane, the Herald reported

More: https://nypost.com/2019/12/19/american-a...-miami-reports/