Passenger: airline was warned about disruptive man at gate

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“We’re all really worried about him being on the plane,” Reznick said she told an employee who let Uskanli board. “He’s a threat. He’s acting weird. He’s scaring us.”

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None of the passengers interviewed by the AP after the flight landed in Honolulu Friday said they complained about being afraid of him before the plane took off.

American spokesman Ross Feinstein said the airline will look into Reznick’s allegations.

Reznick said she wrote to American Airlines Friday to complain that allowing Uskanli to fly put people in danger.

“We understand the situation may have caused you discomfort; and for that, we apologize,” the airline said in a response giving her 10,000 bonus miles.

Uskanli raised other red flags while still at Los Angeles International Airport, but experts say a lack of communication and an airline’s hesitancy to be caught on video booting a passenger played a role in allowing him to fly.

He had purchased a ticket at an airline counter in the middle of the night with no luggage and had been arrested after opening a door to a restricted airfield.

Because of the prior incident involving the restricted area and because he was determined to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, crewmembers took Uskanli to the plane in a wheelchair, the FBI complaint said.

He was not in a wheelchair at the gate, Reznick said.

FBI spokesman Arnold Laanui declined to comment on the discrepancy. “Police, media and eye witness accounts often conflict,” he said in an email. “This is not unusual, especially in the aftermath of chaotic, traumatic and/or frightening situations.”

A federal judge in Honolulu on Monday ordered that Uskanli undergo a mental competency evaluation after his federal public defender requested it.

Uskanli left Hawaii on a government flight for prisoners on Wednesday, a lawyer said.

___

AP Airlines Writer David Koenig in Dallas and AP Writer Michael Balsamo in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, The Associated Press

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