Passengers on U.S. plane tell of air marshal action

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Passengers aboard a U.S. plane bound
for India and forced to turn back to Amsterdam said air
marshals swooped after 12 people began fidgeting with mobile
phones and plastic bags, Dutch media said on Thursday.

The 12 were arrested on Wednesday after the plane landed at
Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. Prosecution authorities said they
were still holding the 12 but would not give their identities
or nationalities.

“I saw the air marshals run and I knew something was
amiss,” a 31-year-old businessman aboard the plane told Dutch
newspaper Algemeen Dagblad.

“Some had beards, others were unshaven, one was wearing a
robe. Some had baseball caps,” another passenger told the
paper.

Other passengers commented those arrested were from Asia
and aged between 25 and 35.

Two Dutch F-16 fighter jets accompanied the 273-seat
DC10-30 plane which had reached German airspace en route to
Mumbai before it was forced to turn back to Schiphol.

The same flight departed for Mumbai, India’s financial hub,
on Thursday morning at 0830 GMT after passengers spent the
night in hotels.

Dutch police can hold suspects for three days without
charge, extended by another three days in special
circumstances.

“All 12 are still being held but we cannot give any
information about their identity,” said a spokesman for the
Dutch public prosecutor’s office.

Passenger Sarat Menon told Dutch daily De Telegraaf:
“Shortly before the flight I spoke to them in a coffee bar. I
didn’t detect anything suspicious.”

He added the situation later on the plane remained calm
throughout.

Security has been increased at airports worldwide in the
last two weeks after British police said they had foiled a plot
to blow up planes in the mid-Atlantic using liquid explosives
disguised as drinks.

Mumbai has also been on high alert after commuter train
bombings on July 11 that killed 186 people.

The return of the Northwest plane to Amsterdam did not lead
to heightened security and did not affect other flights at
Schiphol — Europe’s third largest cargo airport and fourth
biggest passenger hub — an airport spokeswoman said.

(Additional reporting by Nicola Leske)