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Plane tirade ends in arrest

A female passenger claims to have a gun and a bomb.

By DEMORRIS A. LEE, Times Staff Writer
Published September 15, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Sarah Beth Ford, 24, is charged with criminal mischief and falsely reporting a bomb or weapon of mass destruction.

ST. PETERSBURG - At 8 p.m. Thursday, Marjorie Ford received a call from her daughter, Sarah.

Her daughter, who has a history of mental illness, chattered about finding a job.

Five hours later, Ford received a second call. This time it was the FBI.

Sarah Beth Ford, 24, had been arrested on charges of making bomb threats on a flight from Greensboro, N.C. to Clearwater/St. Petersburg International Airport.

Ford was being held Friday at the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $30,000 bail. Pinellas County Judge Paul Levine ordered her to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

Though concerned, Marjorie Ford, who lives in Cary, N.C., admitted she's also relieved.

"The best thing in the world would be for her to get some treatment out of this," she said.

Sarah Ford was one of 89 passengers on the Allegiant Airlines flight Thursday. As the McDonnell-Douglas MD-80 series aircraft began its descent around 10 p.m., Ford ran to the back of the plane and locked herself in the bathroom.

Before she did, officials said she handed a note to a flight attendant explaining she had a gun and a bomb.

"The flight attendant said 'Get into your seat now,'" said Kathy Morton, a passenger who was sitting two rows behind Ford. "The girl would not come out of the bathroom. The flight attendant started beating on the door."

Passengers began to smell smoke. Two of them and a male fight attendant tried to help. But the flight attendant had everything under control.

"She knew what she was doing and she was not going to back down," Morton said. "She was beating down that door like nobody's business and she was going to get that girl out of there."

Next, the flight attendant took the butt of a fire extinguisher and pounded on the door, Morton said.

When it finally opened, the attendant grabbed Ford's backpack and threw it aside. She pulled Ford out of the bathroom and hosed it down with the extinguisher. She ordered Ford not to move.

A spokesperson for Las Vegas-based Allegiant, would not release the flight attendant's name and said the matter is still under investigation.

The plane landed and was diverted to nearly a quarter mile away from the terminal as a safety precaution, said airport spokeswoman Michele Routh.

Emergency vehicles and agents from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, the FBI and the Transportation Security Administration swarmed the tarmac. Bomb-sniffing dogs searched the plane, as well as each piece of luggage as passengers walked toward the terminal.

No explosives or weapons were found, authorities said.

Ford was booked into the jail just after 1:50 a.m. Friday and charged with criminal mischief and falsely reporting a bomb or weapon of mass destruction.

Sgt. Jim Bordner, a sheriff spokesman, said the FBI later informed deputies they would not pursue a federal case against Ford.

Times staff writer Corey Casey and correspondent Eamonn Kneeshaw contributed to this story.

[Last modified September 14, 2007, 22:50:17]