Karr, the guy on the Thai airlines flight was not under arrest at that time so he was not shackled. If I remember the story correctly, they were hoping Karr would say something to his escorts during flight, and since he was not in custody, they could then use what he said as evidence.

No, more like a Reno 911 situation, I guess :p
But I did not see Ben Garant in his shorts... :D

While not regularly, on more than one occasion, I have seen a LEO's escorting a restrained individual on my SJU-MCO/MCO-SJU flights. Almost always in 34-37 C-D-G on the A300

A long time ago, back when the world was young, a young naval officer returning from leave, I was ordered by message to draw a .45 and a set of "traveling irons", and to bring a deserter back back from BCS through HOU (preIAH) to JAX. I was able to get the Highway Patrol to drive us to Houston and the airport, and fortunately there was a direct flight which we were allowed to board early, I locked him to the seat frame, and told him in case of emergency to ask me politely for the key. It did cause the pax around us to give usa wide berth....

Had anyone asked, I suppose I would have told them he was a serial rapist killer/ritual cannibal to upgrade the status of the tale.

Massachusetts joke: Q: Why are criminals flown on commercial planes? A: Because Governor Deval Patrick took the state's helicopter for a golf outing.

Not a joke: You were asked whether you were a police officer because you were wearing a shirt with "NYPD" on it.

Travel tips: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm