An American Airlines mechanic was ordered temporarily detained Friday after he was charged with purposely damaging an aircraft in July amid a dispute between the airline and its mechanics union involving stalled contract negotiations.
Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani will remain in custody pending a hearing Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Federal prosecutors are requesting he be detained pending trial.
Takeoff aborted
Pilots of a flight from Miami to Nassau, Bahamas, July 17 aborted takeoff plans after receiving an error message involving the flight computer, which reports speed, pitch and other data, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Miami.
It said after returning to the gate for maintenance, a mechanic discovered a loosely connected pitot tube, which measures airspeed and connects directly to the flight computer.
A later review of video surveillance footage before the flight captured “what appears to be the sabotage of the aircraft” by a man walking with a limp, the complaint said.
Union contract
When Alani was interviewed, he told law enforcement he was upset at the stalled contract between the union and American, which he said had affected him financially, according to the complaint. It said Alani claimed to have tampered with the aircraft to cause a delay or have the flight canceled in anticipation of obtaining overtime work.
Unions have complained that American is trying to outsource more maintenance jobs, a move American has indicated is necessary to cover increased wages.
In a statement Friday (September 6), American said it was scheduled to resume negotiations with its mechanics union at the National Mediation Board in Washington Sept. 16.
A U.S. federal court last month issued a permanent injunction against American’s mechanics union, which the airline had accused of illegal slowdowns it said had devastated its operations during the peak summer travel season.
Passengers continued safely
A spokesman for American said the airline had an “unwavering commitment” to safety and security and had placed passengers on the July 17 flight on another plane to get to their destination.
“At the time of the incident, the aircraft was taken out of service, maintenance was performed and after an inspection to ensure it was safe the aircraft was returned to service,” the spokesman said. “American immediately notified federal law enforcement, who took over the investigation with our full cooperation.”
Court records do not indicate whether Alani had an attorney.
The U.S. federal court order last month prohibits employees from “calling, permitting, instigating, authorizing, encouraging, participating in, approving, or continuing any form of disruption to or interference with American’s airline operations,” including a refusal to accept overtime or complete any maintenance repairs in the normal course of work.
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida on Friday wrote on Twitter that on two days last week he had American flights canceled at the last minute because of mechanical issues and “now we learn an American mechanic was caught sabotaging planes due to labor dispute.” He added he wants mechanics to get a fair contract.
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New commercial motorcycle operations in Lagos underway
The governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said that his administration would soon roll out a new policy to regulate the operations of commercial motorcycles popularly called Okada in the state.
Sanwo-Olu disclosed this in Ikeja yesterday while reeling out his achievements in the first 100 days in office.
The event, which had in attendance artisans, businessmen and women, politicians, as well as residents of the state provided an opportunity for the governor to enumerate some of the achievements of his administration in 100 days.
Speaking on public transportation and safety, the governor said: “It has become imperative for us as a government to map out new policies that would guide how okada riders operate in Lagos State. This would further stem the tide of accidents and indiscriminate use of okadas on Lagos roads.
“When these are eventually put in place, we expect strict compliance from all concerned in our quest to achieving a greater Lagos for all, in line with our ‘THEMES’ policy trust.”
“After taking oath of office, our resolve towards achieving a greater Lagos was made known through our six policy areas. We remain committed to a Lagos where there would be Traffic Management and Transportation; Health and Environment; Education and Technology; a Lagos of 21st Century Economy; Entertainment and Tourism as well as Security and Governance urging all to contribute their quota to make these a reality.
“Within 24-hours in office, I signed my First Executive Order on Sanitation and Traffic Management, LASTMA now operates two daily shifts to ease the free flow of traffic in the state. I have also visited the Apapa corridor four times in the last 100 days. As a government, we are not one for excuses,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu also enumerated other giant strides such as inaugurating the Dr. Abayomi Finnih Recreational Park in Oregun, 120 patrol vehicles and 35 patrol motorcycles and prompt payment of pensions to retirees by the Lagos State Pension Commission.
Other accomplishments, according to Sanwo-Olu were, rehabilitation of roads across the state including the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, commencement of abandoned Pen Cinema Bridge and Isawo Road in Ikorodu, launch of the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) W-Initiative in collaboration with Access Bank to empower women entrepreneurs and business start-ups.
On education, Sanwo-Olu pointed to the administration’s inauguration of a block of 14 classrooms donated to the State government by RCCG Faith Tabernacle of David Parish, Ajah, as part of the administration’s gains in PPP model of governance with all segments of the society for the progress of the state.
Going forward, the governor revealed plans to establish a Lagos Metropolitan Fibre Optics station to boost the provision of internet facilities in the state, just as he hoped to work assiduously to make the Lagos State School Feeding programme a reality.
Speaking further, the governor said the Lekki-Ikoyi toll plaza would soon be cashless “to ease traffic on that corridor and have less human contact as possible.”
