‘I Didn’t Do Anything Wrong’: Black Woman Gets Justice After She Was Wrongfully Accused of Trying to Breach American Airlines Cockpit While Heading to the Restroom
The criminal charge against a woman who was detained on an American Airlines flight and forced an emergency landing last week has been dropped by the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority Police Department, reports show.
“I am relieved,” Tiffany Miles said of the charge dismissal. “I know I didn’t do anything wrong, so it’s the same reaction.”
According to WRAL News, Miles was on a flight from Jacksonville, Florida, to Washington, D.C., when she was wrongfully detained after being accused by a flight attendant of trying to breach the cockpit. She asked for a drink to ease her anxiety, and she was told that they were not serving alcoholic beverages on the flight..
After the exchange between her and the flight attendant, she got up to use the bathroom at the front of the plane near the cockpit. She was then stopped by two flight attendants and a passenger. Miles said that she was allowed to go back to her seat but asked a flight attendant to call the police because she felt other attendants were being rude to her.
The flight crew zip-tied her at the back of the plane until the flight landed at Raleigh Durham Airport in North Carolina. After the plane landed, American Airlines employees radioed the air traffic control center and reported that Miles tried to breach the cockpit.
RDU officials said that its law enforcement officers received the TSA notification that alerted them of an attempted hijacking and that prompted them to swiftly get to the plane to remove Miles.
The 36-year-old woman was then taken to Wake County Detention Center and charged with a misdemeanor of airport obstruction but released on a $1,000 bond. Miles received a call last Friday from Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority Police Chief Anthony Midgett advising her the charge was dropped.
“After continued investigation regarding the circumstances surrounding the incident and review of eyewitness statements, plus in-depth consultation with the Wake County District Attorney, RDU law enforcement have dismissed the [charge],” RDU wrote.
Miles said that Midgett didn’t inform her whether she would be able to fly in or out of RDU in the future after being initially banned.
“I’m really not worried about that because that’s not any place that I would normally fly out of anyway,” Miles said. “I never have any reason to go to [RDU], even for a layover.”
The FBI Charlotte Field Office said in a brief statement that no further charges are expected against Miles unless additional evidence is discovered.
“I guess I have to speak with my legal team to see how we’re going to handle this … because if no one is charging me now, then what is all the hoopla about?” Miles said.
She has not spoken to anyone from American Airlines since Friday but thinks the flight attendant who accused her of attempting to breach the cockpit should be reprimanded and undergo training. Miles also said that her immediate concern now was getting her mother’s money back that she borrowed to post bail.
