Wednesday, June 29, 2016 | 2 a.m.
While in a TSA security checkpoint line at McCarran International Airport on June 16, a contracted mechanic with Delta Air Lines acted erratically and made threats to public officers, according to a Metro Police report.
He spoke of “planes that fall out of the sky” and there being a “reason for it.”
Neutne Williamson was not allowed to board an airplane and was warned more than 30 times to leave the airport peacefully. Instead, he continued to make threats and was arrested, police said. He was booked at the Clark County Detention Center on four counts of intimidating a public officer.
Williamson’s mood would shift from being agitated one minute to calm the next, according to the report. And the TSA officer told police he had smelled alcohol on his breath.
At first, Williamson shouted — at no one in particular — saying he was an airplane mechanic and should be respected because he kept “airplanes in the sky” and everyone would be “safer” if they did.
Williamson was described as being “aggressive and belligerent” when he was instructed to walk through the X-ray machine.
“He stated the lives of hundreds of people were in his hands and he wanted the respect he deserved,” according to the report.
The disruptive behavior continued when Metro officers arrived. He would look at officers’ badges and say he knew when they would board airplanes and implied he would interfere with their flights. At one point he took a photo of a TSA officer’s badge.
As he was being hauled away, Williamson pointed at the officers and threatened to find out who they were and when they would be flying.
Williamson had access to aircraft and potential access to passenger records, police said.
Williamson was hired by Delta as a contracted mechanic for Express Jet Airline, a Delta official, who barred him from flying out of McCarran that day, told police. As a mechanic he would have knowledge of vulnerabilities inside and outside of the airplane.
Officers took Williamson’s airline credentials when they arrested him and sent them to FBI officials in Atlanta. According to jail logs, he was no longer in police custody on Tuesday.
An ExpressJet spokeswoman said Wednesday that the company is investigating.
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