Jail for mechanic who sabotaged American Airlines jet to earn overtime fixing it
- Sabotage involved glueing styrofoam inside the nose of Boeing 737
- Tampering could have affected plane’s guidance system and caused crash
A veteran airline mechanic was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for sabotaging an American Airlines jetliner with 150 people aboard in a bid to earn overtime fixing the plane.
In sentencing 60-year-old Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani, US District Judge Marcia Cooke said she found no evidence to support allegations that Alani had links to the Islamic State extremist group or any terrorist organisation. Those allegations had surfaced in previous hearings.
“The indictment doesn’t charge anything related to terrorism or terrorist activity,” Cooke said. “I don’t see anything.”
Alani is a naturalised US citizen originally from Iraq who had been an airline mechanic for 30 years. Prosecutors said he has a brother in Iraq who may be involved with Islamic State (Isis) and that Alani had made statements wishing Allah would use “divine powers” to harm non-Muslims. There were also Islamic State videos found on his mobile phone, they said.
But Assistant US Attorney Randy Hummel said investigators found “no linkage” between Alani and any extremist groups.
“I do think the evidence suggests extreme recklessness,” Hummel said.