Former member of US Airforce held after claiming to have bomb on plane

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Times Online

April 28, 2010
Former member of US Airforce held after claiming to have bomb on plane

A former senior member of the US Airforce was arrested on a trans-Atlantic flight on Tuesday after allegedly claiming he had explosives in his luggage and a fake passport.

The man, identified by his father as 26-year-old Derek Stansberry, was detained after Delta Airlines flight 273 from Paris to Atlanta flight was diverted to Maine.

According to U.S. officials, Mr Stansberry's claims appeared to be false. They said his passport was authentic, and there were no explosives found on board the plane.

In Washington, Air Force spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Linda Pepin said the man detained on the plane was a senior airman and worked as an intelligence specialist. She said he was on active duty from June 2005 to 2009 and was last stationed at Hurlburt Field, Florida.

Mr Stansberry's father Richard described his son as "squeaky clean," and said he had never been in any trouble before. M"y son's profession in the military required he live a squeaky clean life," he said.

Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7110082.ece

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

1. Senior member of the US Air Force?

The guy did a 4-year hitch. Admirable, but hardly makes him a "senior member" of anything.

[sarge43]

2. A senior airman is an E-4, equiv of an army corporal, ie worker bee

Intell spec at Hurlburt? Probably did photo mosaics from recon over the ME. Necessary, hardly le Carre level.

The London Times is one of Murdock's rags. If it reports the sun just rose, check your watch. And it likes to stir the stuff.

One final question, what did his vet status have to do with anything?

[panzerfaust]

6. (USAF Sergeant = USA Corporal, USAF SA = USA Spec) = E4 = Near Zero

Of course, being Air Force, he probably had 5 or 6 rows of ribbons.

[sarge43]

7. Yeah, not exactly a mover or shaker.

A ribbon for sliding thru basic - Mother of God on a rocket sled. S/he's breathing; give 'em a ribbon!

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

9. Right. Basically, he kept his nose clean

I don't know the normal rate of promotion in the AF. Maybe the Army is faster, or maybe things were faster way back when I did my two years (draftee).

Most of the draftees I served with got out as E4 or E5. Like our OP flyer, my assignment was way in the rear, out of harm's way, thousands of miles from SE Asia.

A ribbon for sliding thru basic - I like that. NDSM, yep, I got one, we all got one.

[sarge43]

10. AF E-4 during first hitch (4 years) was/is routine.

Can't speak to today's Balloon Corps, back when (60's & 70's) making E-5 under 4 years was just about unheard of. "Who'd he blow?"

Given the security clearance (top secret, background check) and touchy info that the Intell types generally have and deal with, it's in eager young space cadet's best interest to stay squeaky clean. "Ve have ways."

[pattmarty]

3. Looks like the "senior airman" may have had a little too much t drink.

[truthisfreedom]

4. Weird one.

[Ian David]

5. 26 is right around the time when many people with schizophrenia have their first psychotic break. nt

[Turbineguy]

8. Senior?

Senior would be somebody like Jack Ripper or Buck Turgidson

[Bonobo]

11. UPDATE: Wow, this guy was from Easthampton! My (old) neck of the woods.

Apparently he is a very stand-up kid. No one can believe it locally.

Also, he says he took AMBIEN!

---------------
Longtime friends of Stansberry expressed shock Wednesday when they heard he faces charges of making a bomb threat aboard an international flight Tuesday. Robert Harrison's son, Brian Harrison, said he simply can't believe it.
"I believe this is a huge misunderstanding," Brian Harrison said in an interview Wednesday. "This is totally out of what anyone would expect from Derek."

Since his arrest Tuesday, Stansberry has been held in federal custody in Maine, where he was expected to appear Wednesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Bangor. Pilots of Delta Air Lines Flight 273 made an emergency landing in Bangor after Stansberry allegedly told air marshals that he had a fake passport and dynamite in his luggage, according to an FBI affidavit filed Wednesday.

He later told FBI agents after the plane landed that he lied about the explosives to divert attention from the fact that he was in possession of "classified information," according to affidavit. He also told the agent he believed he was being followed and that he had taken the sleep drug Ambien.