US District Judge Marcia Cooke ruled Wednesday that ex-American Airlines mechanic Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani was “reckless” in the sabotaging of the air data module (ADM) system belonging to Flight 2834 from Miami International Airport to Nassau, Bahamas, on July 17, 2019.
While the 60-year-old was facing up to 20 years in prison for his charge of “willfully damaging, destroying or disabling an aircraft,” an agreement was reached between the prosecution and defense teams which resulted in the judge ordering the former American Airlines mechanic to be jailed for three years.
Alani had previously confessed to implanting a piece of Styrofoam into the ADM system to block the device from registering with the aircraft and prevent it from taking off. He admitted that he wanted the plane grounded so that he could recoup overtime pay.
His actions were confirmed by senior Transportation Security Administration Air Marshal Jose Ruiz, who explained in an affidavit that it appeared the ADM was “deliberately obstructed with what appeared to be a dark Styrofoam-type material.”
The former American Airlines mechanic also claimed that he had no intention to harm the 150 travelers onboard the flight. However, the Miami Herald reported that in her March 4 decision, Cooke argued that his tampering with the system could have caused “some unfortunate calamity” if the pilot and flight crew had not detected the error and aborted the flight moments before takeoff to Nassau.
The district judge also noted that Alani told investigators that he would not have wanted his family aboard Flight 2834 on the day of his tampering.
Furthermore, pilot Richard Shafer, who was operating the sabotaged aircraft, said in a court declaration that he “firmly” believes that Alani’s tampering with the ADM system “would have exposed my passengers and crew to a higher level of danger had the aircraft gone airborne,” according to the Miami Herald.
Prosecutors had previously floated the idea that the former American Airlines mechanic may have Daesh links due to his familial ties, cell phone contents and his having made a wire transfer to someone in Iraq. He was also denied bail by US Magistrate Judge Chris M. McAliley over the fear that he could be “sympathetic to terrorists.”
Ultimately, however, Assistant US Attorney Randy Hummel told Cooke that he did not “have a linkage of Mr. Alani being a member of [Daesh]” and did not believe the case was related to terrorism. Instead, the issue at hand involved a disgruntled employee attempting to get more pay after 30 years of employment with American Airlines.