The 60-year-old American Airlines Mechanic who sabotaged the navigation system of a Florida Jetliner that carried 150 passengers has been denied jail after prosecutors revealed that he has ties with ISIS, an international terrorist organization.
60-year-old Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani reportedly glued foam inside a tube that would disable the navigation systems of an aircraft at the Miami International Airport.
The veteran employee allegedly tampered with the plane to cause a delay or to have the flight canceled.
During the preliminary hearing in the Miami Federal Court, prosecutors said that they found ISIS propaganda on the cellphone of Alani.
Investigating officers reportedly found graphic images of a man being executed by a gunshot to the head.
Alani sent the video to someone along with a message that said Allah should take revenge against non-Muslims.
One of the co-workers of Alani said that the 60-year-old mechanic once bragged about his brother who was a soldier for the Islamic State.
Alani also traveled to Iraq earlier this year.
The same witness claimed that Alani previously made statements about wanting to harm non-Muslim people.
But the roommate of Alani told the investigating officers that his trip to Iraq was done as his brother was kidnapped.
The roommate said that Alani visited a number of relatives in Iraq during his visit.
60-year-old Alani is a naturalized U.S. Citizen from Iraq.
He is not charged with any terror-related crime.
Court documents revealed that the 60-year-old mechanic admitted to the investigators that he purposely sabotaged the plane on July 17, 2019, before it was about to take-off because he was not happy with the stalled union contract negotiations.
When the plane was about to take-off, a member of the pilot crew noticed that the air data module system had an error.
Jose Ruiz, a senior federal air marshal with the Transportation Security Administration, said, “Further inspection revealed the ADM appeared to have been deliberately obstructed with what appeared to be a dark Styrofoam-type material.”
A complaint was registered against Alani after the Transportation Security Administration deferral air marshals identified the mechanic.
If the crew did not see the alarm, the pilots would have been forced to fly the plane, which was carrying 150 people, manually.
Ruiz wrote in his affidavit, “Alani stated that his intention was not to cause harm to the aircraft or its passengers.”
Authorities arrested Alani on September 5, 2019, and charged him with “willfully damaging, destroying, disabling, or wrecking and aircraft, and attempting to do so.”
If found guilty, Alani could spend up to 20 years in Jail.