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For Immediate Release
June 3, 2003

Portland, OR
(503) 224-4181

FBI ARRESTS MAN FOR THREATENING PLANE

FBI agents charged RICHARD ALLEN HARRISON, JR., age 29, this afternoon on one count of using a telephone to convey false information regarding the use of an explosive device to damage or destroy an aircraft. HARRISON is accused of phoning in a bomb threat against an America West shuttle operated by Mesa Airlines (Flight 6361) at about 2:45 p.m. on Monday, June 2. The plane had just left on its flight from Medford, Oregon to Phoenix, Arizona. It returned to the airport, security officials re-screened the approximately 30 passengers on board and the Oregon State Police bomb squad checked the aircraft. No explosive device was found.

At the time of his arrest, HARRISON was lodged in the Jackson County Jail on unrelated state charges. Medford Police Department officers arrested HARRISON at the Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport as he attempted to check-in for the already-departed flight. HARRISON will remain in the Jackson County Jail pending his initial appearance before Judge John Cooney on Wednesday, June 4, 2003, at 1:30 p.m.

Investigators believe that HARRISON, who was scheduled to be a passenger on Flight 6361, was running late and hoped that the bomb threat would delay the plane long enough for him to check in.

If convicted, HARRISON could face up to 10 years in prison and/or a fine.

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