A passenger on an Alaska Airlines flight headed to Seattle this week, who was arrested on charges of making a false bomb threat and forcing the plane to land at a different airport, claimed he did so to evade members of a cartel out to get him.
It was a normal Wednesday on Alaska Airlines flight 334, which departed from Seattle at about 3:30 p.m. on July 5, according to court records. Until a first-class passenger handed a flight attendant a note, written on a paper receipt.
“There is a bomb on the plane. This is not a joke,” the note said “Several pounds of homemade explosives are in my carry on bag. I have a detonator with me. Handle this matter carefully and exactly how I say, otherwise I will detonate the explosives and kill everyone on board.”
The flight attendant was directed in the note to notify the pilot and “keep the issue to yourself.” If the plane landed in Seattle, 38-year-old Brandon L. Scott wrote he would kill everyone on board, according to an affidavit written by an FBI agent and obtained by USA TODAY. Alaska Airlines said in a statement 177 passengers and six crew members were on the plane.
“I want this plane rerouted from its destination in Seattle. Any other airport will do,” Scott wrote, according to the affidavit. “I have nothing left to lose.”
Scott said in the note he would give himself up peacefully to law enforcement on the ground if the plane landed anywhere but Seattle.
“As a precaution, the flight was diverted to Spokane and landed safely at 5:15 p.m. Pacific,” Alaska Airlines said in a statement.
There, Scott was arrested, and the airline worked to get the rest of the passengers to Seattle. A search of the plane turned up no explosive devices or materials, the affidavit said. Scott faces a false information and hoaxes charge, court records show.
After he was arrested, Scott told investigators he was being targeted by the Sinaloa Cartel, a Mexican drug-trafficking operation considered one of the most powerful in the world. Scott said members of the cartel were waiting for him to land in Seattle to “torture and kill” him, and he wanted to be arrested to avoid the cartel.
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He also told investigators he considered other options to ensure his arrest, including assaulting a flight attendant or opening a cabin door during the flight.
Scott “stated he did not think of a more reasonable approach such as contacting law enforcement personnel at the airport to ask for help or assistance,” the affidavit said.
Scott has been in custody at Spokane County Jail since Wednesday, jail records show.
John McEntire, a lawyer representing Scott, told USA TODAY he didn’t have a comment Friday as he had just been appointed to the case Thursday, but said, “Mr. Scott received threats against his life and feared what would happen if the plane landed in Seattle as scheduled.”
