Exclusive–American Airlines Mechanic Accused of Sabotaging Flight Came to U.S. from Iraq

An American Airlines mechanic who is accused of sabotaging a commercial flight originally arrived in the United States from Iraq, Breitbart News has confirmed.

On Friday, federal court records revealed that Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani allegedly tampered with a navigation system on a plane filled with 150 passengers set to take off from Miami, Florida and bound for Nassau, the Bahamas on July 17

Federal prosecutors allege that Alani put foam glue inside part of the plane’s navigation system. The alleged tampering was captured on surveillance footage that co-workers said showed Alani driving up to the part of the plane before takeoff and working on the compartment for seven minutes.

Alani told federal officials that he had no intention of harming the passengers on the flight and that he merely wanted the flight to be cancelled so he could receive overtime work in the midst of contract negotiations between his mechanics’ union and American Airlines.

A law enforcement official exclusively confirmed to Breitbart News that Alani first arrived in the U.S. from Iraq sometime in the mid-1980s. Alani came to the country as the spouse of an American citizen and eventually was able to become a naturalized American citizen himself in 1992.

Federal officials have charged Alani with interfering with an aircraft’s navigation system and he faces up to 20 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.