A retired San Mateo police officer who helped subdue Rageh al-Murisi, the man charged with trying to break into the cockpit of a San Francisco-bound flight Sunday, said he was sure the defendant intended to crash the plane.
Larry Wright, a passenger aboard American Airlines Flight 1561, said he sprang from seat 20C after seeing al-Murisi, 28, walking down the aisle toward the cockpit while saying “Allahu akbar,” which means “God is great” in Arabic, over and over again.
“My thought process was that he had a plan,” Wright, 54, said at a news conference Tuesday at San Francisco International Airport.
Wright was among several passengers, including a retired Secret Service agent, who tackled al-Murisi about 20 minutes before landing and bound him with zip-tie handcuffs. Wright then sat on the man, who was tied at the feet and hands, until the plane landed and police took control.
Wright made his remarks the same day as al-Murisi’s arraignment in San Francisco federal court. During the brief hearing Tuesday morning, Assistant U.S. Attorney Elise Becker said al-Murisi tried to enter the cockpit of Flight 1561, which had 156 passengers aboard, at a “key time” as it prepared for landing around 8:50 p.m.
Becker noted that al-Murisi continued to shout “Allahu akbar” as he slammed his shoulder into the cockpit door. The defendant was ordered to be held without bail.
Al-Murisi carried no possessions with him on his trip from New York apart from an Apple charger cord, a pair of sunglasses and $47, Becker said. However, he had multiple ID cards and documents, some expired, from New York and California, as well as $5,000 and $8,000 postdated checks.
Al-Murisi, who has a Yemeni passport and a U.S. green card, spoke only once during the hearing, saying “yes” through an Arabic interpreter when U.S. Magistrate James Larson asked if he understood the charges. He faces one count of interfering with a flight crew, a charge that carries up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The defendant wore a gray shirt and was not handcuffed during the hearing. Federal officers kept watch on him from a short distance away.
Al-Murisi’s family members said outside court that he has a wife and children in Yemen, where he worked as a math teacher, and is not a terrorist. They said they didn’t know he was on his way from New York, even though al-Murisi told investigators he was coming to Vallejo to visit relatives. None of the man’s possessions are in their home, they said.
“He’s a normal guy. He has no intention of hurting nobody,” said a cousin, Ahmed Almoraissi, 25, of Vallejo. “I don’t know what happened on the plane.”
Officials said that when al-Murisi strode to the front of the Boeing 737 and tried to open the cockpit door, a flight attendant presumed he was looking for the bathroom and told him it was to his left. After it happened a second time, al-Murisi made eye contact with the attendant and began pounding his shoulder into the door, authorities said.
Wright arrived just as other passengers were forcing al-Murisi to the ground. The officer, who retired after 27 years on the force, said al-Murisi was so sweaty that he could barely hold on to him, something Wright attributed to the defendant’s agitated anticipation of his plot. Fearing al-Murisi might have an accomplice, explosives or chemical weapons, Wright decided to keep the man in the front of the plane to isolate him.
The incident brought back the memory of a promise Wright said he made to himself in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“I was down in Long Beach when the twin towers fell, and I swore to myself that I would never be a victim,” he said, choking up. “That’s it.”
Al-Murisi is being held by federal authorities and is due back in court Friday for a hearing on whether he can be released on bail.
Contact Joshua Melvin at 650-348-4335.
