Northwest Airlines Flight 327

Northwest Airlines Flight 327

A similar 757-200 to the occurrence aircraft
Occurrence summary
Date	June 29, 2004 (2004-06-29)
Summary	Suspected terrorist hijack Racial panic
Site	en route
Injuries (non-fatal)	0
Aircraft type	Boeing 757-200
Operator	Northwest Airlines
Flight origin	Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
Destination	Los Angeles International Airport

Northwest Airlines Flight 327 was a flight on June 29, 2004 from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Michigan to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California. This event happened aboard N543US, a Boeing 757-200. The behavior of a party of 13 Syrian musicians, on their way to an engagement in San Diego, was deemed suspicious by at least one passenger, who raised concerns that they were observing a terrorist attack or a dry run test. One passenger, journalist Annie Jacobsen, wrote a series of articles about the incident, bringing it to national attention. A redacted version of the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General's report was released in May 2007 as a result of a Freedom of Information Act request made by the Washington Times.

Before takeoff, 14 men of Middle Eastern descent boarded the aircraft. Thirteen of the 14 men were Syrian nationals in the USA on short-term visas, using one-way tickets which they had paid for in cash. Their visas had expired on June 10, but they had filed for extensions, which were eventually granted.

During the flight, Annie Jacobsen, a writer for WomensWallStreet, believed that the men were acting suspiciously. She claimed that one of the flight attendants had previously notified an air marshal on board the flight that she thought the men were acting suspiciously, but the air marshals later said that a flight attendant had merely passed on Jacobsen's concerns. Jacobsen and her husband became increasingly vocal when they believed that their concerns were not being taken seriously, to the point that air marshals believed that the couple might themselves be terrorists, trying to draw them out to reveal their identities.

In a series of articles for WomensWallStreet titled "Terror in the Skies, Again?," Jacobsen claimed that several other Flight 327 passengers have corroborated her story. One was so frightened by what she witnessed that she no longer travels by air. Others said they were convinced they were about to die. One such passenger confirmed the story to the Washington Times.