Escorted return flight to Amsterdam

CNN:

Twelve passengers were in custody Wednesday after a Northwest Airlines flight bound for Mumbai, India, returned to Amsterdam with a fighter jet escort, Dutch police said.

They have not been formally charged, police said. But an airport policeman said authorities have enough information to hold the 12 for at least three days.

Flight 42 returned to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport "after several passengers displayed behavior of concern," Northwest Airlines said in a written statement.

In a recording of communications between the pilot and air traffic controllers circulated among Dutch media, the pilot is asked if he wants fire trucks on the runway when he lands, The Associated Press reported.

"No, sir," he replied, according to the AP.

Some of the passengers pulled out cell phones during the flight and appeared to be trying to pass the cell phones to other passengers, a U.S. government official said.

In addition, some passengers unfastened their seatbelts while the light requiring they be fastened was still illuminated, the official said.

That was enough for U.S. air marshals aboard the DC-10 to break their cover. Flight attendants ordered the passengers to heed the orders of the marshals, the official added.

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Having the air marshalls break cover suggest that the activities of the 12 passengers was extroidinary. It will be interesting to learn if they had other items of concern that were being passed around. It will probably take a few days to find out if they were Methodist or Presbyterian. Who knows, they may even be Muslims. There apparently are some members of the religion of peace who belong to a death cult that believes in mass murder of non combatants. I am pretty sure that there are more Muslims who believe this than Methodist or even Baptists.