The story about an air marshall onboard is total bull****, here are the exact quotes from the Globe (you can find the story at www.globeandmail.com, search for "smoke first clue"). It's an example of how uninformed speculation becomes "fact".

First reference is in the subhead: "Passengers recall man's fight with air crew after he was caught smoking in washroom; air marshal took control until landing"

Initial references in the text:
"An air marshal wearing casual clothes walked from the front of the plane and took control of the situation, Ms. Powell said.

"For the rest of the trip the marshal sat behind the man, who wasn't restrained."

["Ms. Powell" is a passenger sitting two rows away]

The other reference is in the legend to an illustration of a 767:

"What happened inside...
'According to Kim Powell, another passenger on flight 792, the events unfolded in the following sequence.
...
5. The air marshall on board moves from the front of the plane to the seat beside Mr. Naghani to control any further situation.
Everyone remained in these positions as the plane returned to Los Angeles, landed and officers boarded to remove Mr. Naghani."

So some guy in plain clothes (possibly an offduty police officer?) sat next to the smoker for the remainder of the flight; that becomes a report that an air marshall took control.

andrew


[This message has been edited by Andrew Webber (edited 09-30-2001).]