Pilot's suspicions led to man's arrest
Sky marshal story convincing, at first

February 6, 2002

By Susan Finch
Staff writer/The Times-Picayune

At a time when all eyes are peeled for the possibility that a passenger has carried a gun on board a commercial flight, Michael Patrick McManus' undoing began with a pilot's determination that he wasn't armed at all.

It tended to undermine his claim that he was a sky marshal, a story that had gotten him past an airline ticket agent and then a gate agent -- both of whom should have known that sky marshals dress in civilian clothes, carry concealed weapons and seek invisibility, officials said.

McManus, of Palo Alto, Ca., bounded onto a Dallas-bound flight last month at New Orleans' Armstrong International Airport sporting battle fatigues with badges, including one for Delta Force, an Army unit that handles counterterrorism operations.

When the pilot asked about the military garb, McManus had a ready answer: "The sky marshal program was not up to speed, so they were using Delta Force members as sky marshals," according to an FBI affidavit filed in court. As for his lack of a weapon, McManus said "he was Delta Force and he was trained to handle any situation," the FBI said.

Then the real sky marshals boarded the flight. McManus, apparently exposed as an impostor, if not quite a terrorist, was hustled off the plane. He was not immediately arrested or publicly identified, and was allowed to return to California.

Now he faces a federal felony charge of impersonating a U.S. officer or employee. A federal grand jury late last week charged him with passing himself off as a U.S. Transportation Department air marshal and a U.S. military major assigned to perform a security check of American Flight 1970 on Jan. 21.

New Orleans Acting U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said the indictment shows the government is serious about aircraft safety.

"We think this intentional, well-planned-out breach of security is something that has to be dealt with very seriously," he said.

Noting that McManus persuaded an American ticket agent and gate agent that he was an official sky marshal, Letten said the case offers a lesson in vigilance.

"In this case, this individual had an ID that probably could or should have been scrutinized more carefully. Luckily the pilot asked all the right questions," Letten said. "Ultimately the system did work, albeit at the last minute."

McManus may not have looked like an air marshal, but he definitely had paid attention to the fine points of military regalia, according to the FBI report.

The ticket agent with whom he spoke said he showed what appeared to be a military ID. The gate agent who upgraded McManus' ticket from coach to first class said his army fatigues were similar to those worn by National Guard soldiers working at the airport. She also noticed McManus was wearing an earpiece with a curled cord extending into his collar.

It worked. Sort of.

McManus secured the pilot's approval and boarded the aircraft ahead of other passengers. The pilot had approached him for a further chat when he noticed McManus looking around the lavatory and galley in the rear of the aircraft.

"At that time, McManus asked the pilot what the code word was to access the cockpit," the FBI report said.

Back home in California on Jan. 22, McManus was grilled by FBI agents from the bureau's San Francisco division. According to court records, he said he had been in the military in the 1980s, but was not currently on active duty.

McManus admitted he did not earn the insignia displayed on his battle fatigues, including those for Ranger, Airborne, Jungle Expert and Air Assault, the FBI said. He told the agents he bought the patches, as well as a military police badge and military ID, through a military surplus store, military magazines or the Internet.

An American Airlines spokesperson Tuesday said the company doesn't discuss security issues but confirmed that the incident occurred.

U.S. Magistrate Louis Moore in New Orleans issued an arrest warrant for McManus on Jan. 24. It was unclear Tuesday whether McManus was in custody. He is scheduled to make his first appearance in federal court in New Orleans on Feb. 22.

Susan Finch can be reached at
sfinch@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3340.