A retired San Mateo police officer who helped subdue a man who tried to break into the cockpit of a San Francisco-bound flight Sunday said he was sure the suspect intended to crash the plane.
Larry Wright was a passenger aboard American Airlines Flight 1561, and he sprang from his seat after seeing 28-year-old Rageh Al-Murisi walking down the aisle toward the cockpit and hearing him say over and over again, “Allahu akbar,” which means “God is great” in Arabic.
“My thought process was that he had a plan,” the 54-year-old told reporters during a news conference Tuesday at San Francisco International Airport.
Wright was among several passengers, including a retired Secret Service agent, who tackled the man 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’s comments came the same day as Al-Murisi’s arraignment in San Francisco federal court. During the brief hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Elise Becker said Al-Murisi was trying to bust into the cockpit of Flight 1561 at a “key time” as it prepared for landing around 8:50 p.m. As he slammed his shoulder into the cockpit door, he continued to shout “Allahu akbar,” a phrase Becker noted was uttered by perpetrators of the 9/11 terror attacks and the Fort Hood massacre.
Al-Murisi was ordered held without bail.
The man 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 state 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 police kept watch over 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, and that none of the man’s possessions are in their home.
“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 say Al-Murisi strode to the front of the Boeing 737, which had 156 passengers aboard, 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 cockpit door, authorities said.
Wright arrived just as the other people were forcing Al-Murisi to the ground. The former officer said the Al-Murisi was so sweaty he could barely hold on to him, something Wright attributed to the suspect’s thinking about 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.
The incident brought back the memory of a promise Wright said he made to himself in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack.
“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 due back in court Friday for a hearing on whether he can be released on bail.
Contact Joshua Melvin at 650-348-4335.
