United pilot (wall street comment)... INNOCENT !

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Charge Dropped Vs. Pilot Accused of Threat
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 17, 2005


BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- A United Airlines and National Guard pilot has been cleared of a charge that he lied on a security clearance application, in a case that began when a female acquaintance allegedly reported that he'd talked about crashing a plane into Wall Street.

Maj. Robert Feneziani, 44, of San Diego, was arrested last week by FBI agents and pleaded not guilty to the charge of making false statements on a Defense Department form.

Feneziani's attorney said the government agreed to drop the charge Wednesday after determining Feneziani's application had been accurate.

``What we wish is that they would have investigated before they arrested him,'' attorney Mark Mahoney said.

Feneziani was not charged in connection with the alleged threat to Wall Street. Mahoney said the pilot denied ever making such a statement.

``We cannot fathom the reason or motivation for including this career-stopping allegation in the (lying) charges to begin with,'' Mahoney said.

Federal prosecutors could not be reached after hours Wednesday to respond.

An FBI agent's affidavit attributed the claim to an acquaintance whose identity was kept secret. The affidavit said the woman called the FBI on Feb. 2 and ``recalled that in late 2003 the defendant threatened to crash his plane into Wall Street because he was frustrated that some people made easy money.''

The FBI then investigated the pilot and concluded he had lied on the Defense Department form when he said he had not been arrested or involved in civil court actions in the last seven years.

Feneziani had been detained in 2000 in San Diego, but not arrested, Mahoney said. And although his wife had filed a request for a restraining order, no order was entered and Feneziani was never served with papers or made aware of the filing.

United Airlines removed Feneziani from flying status following his arrest pending the outcome of the case.

``As soon as we are notified officially that charges have been dropped we will take the appropriate action,'' airline spokesman Jeff Green said late Wednesday.

Feneziani, through his attorney, declined to comment.

He is assigned to the New York Air National Guard's 107th Air Refueling Wing in Niagara Falls.

*******************************************************************

Guilty until proven innocent.



Now I hope they ARREST and charge the woman who accused him!!!
 
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Now I hope they ARREST and charge the woman who accused him!!!

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Why? Her statement to the authorities was unrelated to the charges that were filed against the pilot and later dropped.
 
" An FBI agent's affidavit attributed the claim to an acquaintance whose identity was kept secret. The affidavit said the woman called the FBI on Feb. 2 and ``recalled that in late 2003 the defendant threatened to crash his plane into Wall Street because he was frustrated that some people made easy money.'' "

Release her identity and charge her.

That was a SERIOUS allegation made against the pilot. Now the pilot has to fight to get everything back. And on those forms, he will always have to check the ' been arrested before? ' box.

The woman who accused the pilot should be treated no differently than somebody who calls in a false threat of hijacking, bomb, etc.

At the very minimum, I'd sue her for slander if I was that pilot.
 
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Release her identity and charge her.

That was a SERIOUS allegation made against the pilot. Now the pilot has to fight to get everything back. And on those forms, he will always have to check the ' been arrested before? ' box.

The woman who accused the pilot should be treated no differently than somebody who calls in a false threat of hijacking, bomb, etc.

At the very minimum, I'd sue her for slander if I was that pilot.

[/ QUOTE ]Charge her with what? I see nothing suggesting her initial accusation (that he threatened to crash a plane into Wall Street) was false. It's not her fault that the FBI overreacted and charged him with a (completely unrelated) crime before they had really investigated it.

Take a chill, my man!!
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An FBI agent's affidavit attributed the claim to an acquaintance whose identity was kept secret. The affidavit said the woman called the FBI on Feb. 2 and "recalled that in late 2003 the defendant threatened to crash his plane into Wall Street because he was frustrated that some people made easy money."

My bet is it's his ex-wife. If those comments were made in 2003, then why wait until now? Sounds like complete bull. And why are they keeping her identity a 'secret'?




I'm sure he can successfully sue for slander, "undue stress" from what she did, etc. etc.
 
What if he really said it?

And if it really was his ex that made the allegations, do you really think the FBI would take her claims seriously enough to go digging for something in his background to hang him with? Don't you think that they wouldn't see through it in a "New York minute" if she was just trying to hang him out to dry???
 
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An FBI agent's affidavit attributed the claim to an acquaintance whose identity was kept secret. The affidavit said the woman called the FBI on Feb. 2 and "recalled that in late 2003 the defendant threatened to crash his plane into Wall Street because he was frustrated that some people made easy money."

My bet is it's his ex-wife. If those comments were made in 2003, then why wait until now? Sounds like complete bull. And why are they keeping her identity a 'secret'?

I'm sure he can successfully sue for slander, "undue stress" from what she did, etc. etc.

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Your bet is it's his ex-wife. After seeing just what happened with a potentially bogus allegation, you really wanna go down that path?

And he may have said it. Come on, who hasn't said something like I'd like to kill that SOB or I'm going to kick that bastard's ass?

The FBI screwed up. The informant is secret and they don't have to disclose who it is.

If you ask me, this boils down to hysteria and fear and paranoia. The FBI way overreacted and screwed up this man's life.

I don't think they'll ever get the name of the informant, period. Gotta have that to sue.
 
so the question becomes: will he get his job back or did the FBI curse him forever and entirely ruin his career?
 
Yeah, and thanks to the Patriot Act, he can't even try to get compensation for false arrest from the government. If United is waiting on official word from the FBI that charges have been dropped to give the poor guy his job back, I'm betting that will be a while. Wouldn't surprise me if the FBI let him go with a "we'll be watching you" look. They probably still have him under surveillance. Paranoia is fun.
 
Why defamation? She didn't make public statements about him, just quietly let the FBI know what he (allegedly) said so they could investigate. The FBI is the one that screwed up here (in my opinion) by trying to put him away on a pretty flimsy charge, so why take it out on her?

I don't understand why you guys are out to hang this person. People get it pounded into their head that they should report suspicious activity and statements regarding things like aircraft (and schools - how many stories have you heard about kids getting investigated by police for making stupid comments about *taking out* other kids or teachers or whatever), yet you want to punish someone for doing something that Herr Ashcroft has been advocating for three years now. I don't like the kind of civilization where citizens are watch dogs on each other, but I can sure understand when people act that way when urged to by their government.

This one is starting to sound like an arguepolitics.com topic so I better quit right there....
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Yeah, and thanks to the Patriot Act, he can't even try to get compensation for false arrest from the government.

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I'm not sure there's anything "new" about the Patriot Act concerning that. It's the way it's been, let's see, forever. The FBI has destroyed many lives then walked away without so much as a "sorry" (if they are caught doing it).

As for Tony's comments, I have no doubt this guy knows who the accuser is. And if he made the comments there is certainly no lawsuit he could bring. Even if he didn't it would come down to he said-she said, so I don't see a lawsuit in his future.

There is nothing new about any of this. The FBI, especially, feeds off of informants. They are notorious for acting first, investigating later. This guy should count himself lucky, like Richard Jewell here in Atlanta, that he was able to clear himself. Others haven't been so lucky.

And I'd expect him to be back in the cockpit pretty quickly.
 
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As for Tony's comments, I have no doubt this guy knows who the accuser is. And if he made the comments there is certainly no lawsuit he could bring. Even if he didn't it would come down to he said-she said, so I don't see a lawsuit in his future.

And I'd expect him to be back in the cockpit pretty quickly.

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He probably does know who it is but knowing something and proving something are two different matters.

Besides, can't you see someone saying something like that who is perfectly sane? If I was arrested every time I said something like, I'm going to kill that bastard or I'm going to smack some sense to that idiot, I'd be spending a lot of time at the police station.

Or maybe I'm just a psycho. Don't tell the AME before I go for my medical.
 
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