Men’s News Daily exclusive

On Friday evening, 16 July 2004, Northwest Airlines (NWA) Flight 1735 (a Douglass DC-9) landed over three hours late in Nashville from Detroit.  According to a spokesman, there were 106 passengers and 4 crew members aboard.  The delay was caused by fumes and smoke in the passenger cabin.  At the time of this filing, the exact nature of the problem had not been determined.

NWA spokesman Thomas Becher told Men’s News Daily that the flight turned around 20 minutes out of Detroit, and returned there.  Passengers and cargo were transferred to a different aircraft, and the original airliner was examined.  Becher stated that, to his knowledge, the pilot did not declare an in-flight emergency.

Most of the deplaning passengers from Flight 1735 stated that the aircraft turned around “about halfway”, or “45 minutes” out of Detroit.  They had reactions that went across the spectrum.  The reactions seemed to be determined by where they sat in the aircraft.  The smoke originated from the rear of the cabin, and passengers farther back had stronger reactions to the incident.  When asked about his experience, one unidentified passenger said only, “It wasn’t much of an experience — just a delay.”

Nashville resident Max Dull was on business in Detroit.  He is vice-president of a firm that distributes automotive parts.  He said that he smelled fumes first, and saw the smoke a short time later.  He saw one passenger go forward and notify a flight attendant.

Homer Hogg of Mount Juliet, Tennessee, was also traveling on business.  He is a training manager for fleet maintenance at Ryder trucks.  With his years of experience in large-engine repair, he described the smell as similar to electrical wiring insulation when it burns.  Hogg said, “The situation was uncomfortable, but the crew remained calm, which helped the passengers to remain calm.  The crew made a quick decision, and did a great job.”

That opinion was not shared by John Papini, an aircraft asset manager from Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  Papini told Men’s News Daily that he has years of experience in maintaining passenger aircraft in the regional airline market, and holds an Airframe and Powerplant repair certificate from the FAA.  Papini stated that the fumes smelled like those from a flourescent light power inverter; and, he noticed the overhead and reading lights flickering in the cabin.  Papini felt that the decision to return to Detroit took too long, and that perhaps the pilot should have landed at the nearest available airport as soon as an electrical malfunction had been suspected as the problem.

Papini went on to say that the aircrew did not power down non-essential electrical systems to prevent the problem from spreading.  He also described other measures (withheld here for security reasons) that he believed the flight attendants should have taken to quickly identify the nature and extent of the problem.  Although he recognized that the attendents have a duty to keep the passengers calm, Papini opined, “There is no such thing as a ‘slight emergency’.  Either it’s an emergency, or it’s not.  If it is an emergency — especially if it’s an electrical fire — then they should get that plane on the ground quickly.  They didn’t do that.”

In a pre-“9-11” environment, this incident would not warrant much attention outside the aircraft maintenance world.  But, considering that our country is at war, and that Islamist terrorist cells within the United States are known to be increasing their activity, there are factors that the traveling public should keep in mind.  So far, measures to screen potential terrorists seem to fall into two categories:  too much and not enough.

Detroit is known to be the home of a high concentration of Arab immigrants, especially from Iraq.  Nashville is home to a high concentration of Kurdish immigrants, mostly from Iraq.  During the reign of Saddam Hussein, the mostly-Arab government of Iraq persecuted the Kurds in northern Iraq — even using chemical weapons against entire villages.  (This actually was an “ethnic cleansing”, because both groups are predominantly Muslim, but are ethnically different.)  An online news report — released earlier on the same day as this incident — described a recent incident aboard NWA Flight 327, also out of Detroit.  In that incident, about a dozen Arab-looking men appeared to participate in a “probe” operation.  They seemed to be testing their ability to carry various items onto an airliner, and put those items together in the lavatory.  The items aboard Flight 327 two weeks ago may have been an actual or simulated chemical weapon.  Could an Arab terrorist cell have been aboard NWA Flight 1735, on its way to attack a group of Kurds in Nashville?  (While at the airport in Nashville, I did not observe any deplaning passengers that fit the profile of the Flight 327 incident.)  And, in the long run, the more important question is:  did anyone ask that question in the case of Flight 1735?

As I’ve written previously, dates are very important to Islamist terrorists.  The incident aboard NWA 1735 took place on the day before the anniversary of the downing of TWA Flight 800.  That disaster happened on the anniversary of the date when Saddam Hussein took power in Iraq.  Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge has recently announced that there is “credible evidence” that terrorist cells are actively planning a major attack on American soil as we approach the presidential election later this year.  Intelligence “chatter” indicates that the attack may be on a scale at least as grand as the dual “9-11” attacks, and intended to disrupt the election process.  But, loyalists to Saddam Hussein may also want revenge against the Kurds, who helped the US in both Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

It is unfortunate that factors such as the ethnicity of passengers must be considered in even a “slight emergency” aboard an airliner.  But, to disregard the factors described here would be even more unfortunate.  Thank God that no one was hurt aboard NWA 1735.  But, even though the incident appears to have been “slight”, are there lessons to be learned by the airlines and others?  If so, will those lessons be learned in time?