City Leaders Not Updated During Diverted Flight

By Marshall Zelingerm.zelinger@krdo.comFollow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mzelinger

COLORADO SPRINGS – Members of city council contacted by NEWSCHANNEL 13 tell us they did not know about the diverted plane to Colorado Springs airport as the incident was unfolding. 46-year-old Mohammad Abu Tahir, from Virginia, was taken into custody by Colorado Springs Police. Tahir is accused of being drunk and locking himself in a bathroom on the plane, causing the AirTran flight from Atlanta to San Francisco, to divert to Colorado Springs at 11:30 a.m.

“The police actually met the airplane as it came into the airport and I think they made the determination that this didn’t rise to the level of being necessary to contact city officials,” saidCity CouncilwomanJanMartin.

Vice Mayor Larry Small tells NEWSCHANNEL 13he was in his city council office until 4:30 p.m. and didn’t know about the incident at all. After speaking with us, he checked his e-mail and found the incident mentioned in a daily report sent by the city communications office at 4:31 p.m.

The report is the same information received NEWSCHANNEL 13 received earlier in the afternoon. Martin also says she received this e-mail:

Small says he would have liked to have known what was going on as it was happening, especially since NORAD sent up fighter jets and since the FBI is involved.

Tahir is being held at the El Paso County jail. Federal charges for interference of a flight crew are expected to be filed on Monday.