There are two sides to every story. AA has
released the written statemetns of the Capt
and their SOC Mgr. It seems that perhaps
the SS agent needs to crank-up his
professionalism.

Text of Captain's Statement

Armed passenger * flight 363 BWI/DFW.
Flight was scheduled to leave at 1715.
I was notified that due to a mechanical
at the next gate - they would hold our
push for approximately 30-40 minutes to
try to accommodate those pax going to
DFW. A few moments later the *1 flt
attendant brought to my attention that
she and other flt att were concerned
about the actions of one of the pax.
This pax left the aircraft with carryon
bags still in his seat. He told the flt
att. Please don't leave without him.
While the pax was away a flt att
observed books in the individuals seat
which were written in what she assessed
was Arabic style print. Upon further
investigation - when the individual came
back it was determined that he was in
fact our 'armed passenger'. I then
decided to stop my pre-flt and review
the AA E2. The form was unreadable
because it was a carbon-copy and there
were missing items. I then had the
agent come back and recheck his
credentials and give me a new AA E2.
Again this form was filled out
improperly. I left my seat to speak to
the individual. He appeared nervous and
anxious. With all the forms that I
received in error I determined that the
most prudent course of action was to
call dispatch to phone patch me to the
SOC. I asked them to fax me a copy of
what the Secret Service credentials
looks like. He advised me that BWI
should have this information. BWI in
fact does not. We still were
accommodating the connecting passengers
and had time to further determine the
proper credentials of this person.
While all this was going on the
individual approached me in front of the
lead agent and asked why he was being
denied boarding for so long. I
disclosed to him that the paper work was
not correct and that I needed to have
this fixed before he would be
accommodated. This was an AA issue and
none of his concern. At this time the
individual became very hostile with me.
Upon all the information that I had up
to this point - I had doubt as to his
actual representation as a Special Agent
for the Secret Service. 1. *Two
improperly filled out AA Form E2. 2.
*Flt atts bringing to my attention what
appeared to be strange behavior. 3.
*Hostility toward me for trying to
correct my required paper work. I then
had the Maryland Airport Authority
police determine his proper ID by
calling the Secret Service as to his
legitimate status. This took about ten
minutes to complete. In the interim I
was given a third improperly filled out
AA Form E2. This had no signature of
the LEO. No initial as to the traveling
status of the officer. No phone number.
While the police were determining the
proper status of this individual this
person came up to me with loud abusive
comments as to his being denied
boarding. That he has the powers of the
White House behind him and that this is
not of [sic] the end of this matter.
The police agreed with me that there was
a legitimate concern because of his
unprofessional behavior. This was all
in full view of every passenger boarding
the flight. He then said he would not
board the flt. As it turned out he was
an actual LEO. After the events of 9/11
and another of our fls targeted with
explosives and causing injury to a flt
att I absolutely felt correct in having
this individuals [sic] identification
validated. After three improper AA Form
E2s [sic] and the behavior of this
individual, I needed to be 100% sure of
his credentials. If he just let us do
our job of getting the paper work in
order, he would have been boarded, and
it would have been a pleasure to carry
an 'armed passenger'. With the lives of
the entire passengers and crew, I was
uncomfortable with his actions and did
what a Captain should do and edge toward
the side of safety and not move the
aircraft until I'm confident that all
issues are satisfied before taking off.
As a note, I am filling [sic] a
misconduct report with the Secret
Services Internal Affairs division. I
would suggest that AA Security follow up
on this matter because this individual
made the entire crew uncomfortable with
his actions and absolutely with his
confrontational behavior toward me. The
police officer who was very helpful was
officer (redacted). The case # was
(redacted). The Secret Service Agent's
name was (redacted). Passports and
fraudulent IDs can easily be altered to
look passable. With all the items to
this event not adding up, I absolutely
believe I acted in the best interest of
my crew, pax and AA.

Text of SOC Manager's Statement:

I was working as Center Manager on
Christmas and received a call from
Captain (employee number ) flying flight
363 from BWI/DFW. The Captain had a
concern about a passenger onboard his
flight. The Captain first requested a
fax containing all wanted terrorist
photos that American had available. I
explained that this was not possible and
asked exactly what problem he was
encountering. He said that he received
paperwork for a passenger that stated he
was a Secret Service Agent and would be
traveling armed. The Captain said that
the paperwork contained scratched out
flight numbers and may have been
altered. I then suggested that the
Captain request new paperwork. The
Captain called back again and stated the
he was still questioning the validity of
this passenger working for the Secret
Service because the secret service agent
had failed to fill the paperwork out
properly again. I asked if he had
looked at the agent credentials. He
said you work for the airline, you know
how easy it would be to get fake I.D. I
suggested that I could call the Secret
Service and verify that this passenger
was in fact an agent. I asked the
Captain to request the agent's superiors
[sic] name and number. The Captain said
that we should not use his information
because he could have a friend answering
the phone when we called. I then
suggested get the local police to verify
the I.D. since, being located at BWI,
they would have exposure to Secret
Service I.D.'s and contact phone
numbers. The next phone call I received
was from the AA ticket agent at BWI. He
said that the Secret Service agent had
verbally abused the Captain and that the
Captain was denying him boarding. I
asked to speak to the police officer
that was witness to this, who then
verified what the ticket agent had
stated. Based on this, I then decided
to end boarding to this passenger on
future AA flights. Later, I received a
call from the AA ticket agent at BWI and
was asked to talk to this Secret Service
Agent. I then heard the Secret Service
Agent's side of the story. He admitted
to not properly filling out the
paperwork for carrying a weapon; not
once, but twice. He also admitted to
losing his temper with the Captain
because he was asked for his ID five
separate times. When he asked why he
was denied future boarding, I explained
that I could not expose AA crews or
passengers to abuse. He said he was
being discriminated against, wanted my
bosses [sic] name, and threatened that
he would have my job. He was going to
take this to the highest authority. I
asked for his superior's name and
contacted him. I explained the
situation to the superior. He confirmed
that this man did work for the Secret
Service, and would contact him. A short
time later the agent's superior called
back and said that he was sorry for
losing his temper and would like to
travel out of DCA the next day. He then
stated that the agent was of Middle
Eastern descent. I explained to the
superior that I did not know this and
that there was no discrimination in the
denied boarding process with SOC. I was
1,000 miles away from the situation and
handled it as we would for any unruly
passenger. We agreed the agent could
travel the next day.