Passenger shot dead in bomb scare on plane

No bomb was found in the bag, a US official said later, and witnesses reported that before the shooting, the man's wife had tried to alert those on board that he was mentally ill.

The killing marked the first time since the terrorist attacks of 11 September, 2001, that an air marshal had shot at anyone.

Brian Doyle, a spokesman for the Homeland Security Department said the dead man was a US citizen, Rigobertu Alpizar, 44. According to a witness, he frantically ran down the aisle of the Boeing 757 while his wife tried to explain that he was mentally ill and had not taken his medication.

The passenger indicated there was a bomb in his bag and was confronted by air marshals but ran off the aircraft, Mr Doyle said. The marshals went after him and ordered him to get on the ground, but he did not comply and was shot after he apparently reached into the bag, Mr Doyle said.

The plane, flight 924, had arrived in Miami from Medellin, Colombia, just after noon, and the shooting occurred shortly after 2pm local time yesterday as the plane was about to take off for Orlando with the man and 119 other passengers and crew, said Tim Wagner, an American Airlines spokesman.

After the shooting, investigators spread passengers' bags on the tarmac and let dogs sniff them for explosives, and bomb squad members blew up at least two bags.

The concourse where the shooting took place was shut down for half an hour, but the rest of the airport continued operating.

Mary Gardner, a passenger aboard the Orlando-bound flight, told WTVJ-TV in Miami that the man ran down the aisle from the rear of the plane.

"The man was frantic, with his arms flailing about in the air," she said. A woman followed, shouting: "My husband, my husband." Ms Gardner said she heard the woman say her husband was bipolar - a mental illness also known as manic depression - and had not had his medication.

There were only 32 air marshals at the time of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The Bush administration hired hundreds more thereafter, although the exact number currently deployed is classified.

Since the attacks on the twin towers, American officials have tried to convince other nations to allow air marshals on flights to thwart any new attacks. But European nations have strongly opposed such a move, saying that a policy of having armed guards on planes could provoke more problems than it could solve.