FBI determines man posed no risk to flight

SAN ANTONIO – A passenger who was detained after flight attendants said he tampered with a bathroom smoke detector was determined to be “not suspicious at all,” the FBI said Sunday.

The passenger, a San Antonio man whose identity wasn’t released, was questioned Saturday after flight attendants reported suspicious activity. Explosives experts swept the Delta Air Lines plane after it arrived from Atlanta but found nothing.

“He was cooperative during the interview,” FBI spokesman Erik Vasys said Sunday. “He allowed a search of his house, a search of his person, a search of his belongings. Nothing of a suspicious nature was found.”

Flight attendants reported he had been “disruptive” in the bathroom and had spent an extended amount of time there, the Transportation Security Administration said. In addition to the smoke detector being tampered with, authorities said ceiling tiles were moved.

Vasys said it appeared someone tried to disconnect the detector, but it was still working and wasn’t damaged.

“It wound up being the flight attendant’s word against a passenger’s, and this guy turned out to be not suspicious at all,” he said.

Thirty-six passengers were on board and flight attendants didn’t grow suspicious of the passenger until late into the flight, San Antonio International Airport spokesman David Hebert said.