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bbc.co.uk/news
British
man arrested in Brazil

 

 

Donald Gold, a 42-year-old British advertising executive, was arrested at Rio de Janeiro's Galeão International Airport after being physically restrained by cabin crew during the flight from London.

 

Apparently convinced that the flight crew had died from unspecified poisoning and that the aircraft was flying itself, he tried to gain entry to the Boeing 747's flight deck. Bienvenida Bebeta Bezerra, who was sitting close to Gold, said: “He was drinking and taking pills all through the journey and he seemed jumpy, but I didn't think anything of it—who isn't terrified stupid at 10,000 meters? But then he jumped to his feet and started screaming, ‘They're all dead, they're all dead, and we will all die too!' I told him to calm down, but he shouted at me that he was the only man who could fly the aeroplane. Then he ran to the front and the next time I see him the stewardesses are pushing him to the floor and putting the handcuffs on him. They were quite rough. I think they give him a black eye and stamp on him hard in their high heels. The whole thing was terrifying.”

 

Fiona West, British Airways Director of Long Haul Operations, said: “The safety of the flight and the passengers is of paramount importance. The cabin crew behaved in exemplary fashion and followed the procedure for dealing with in-flight incidents to the letter. The matter is now in the hands of the Brazilian authorities.”

 

Gold remains in custody at Galeão International and has yet to be charged with any offense.

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Donald Gold, arrested in Rio de Janeiro after an incident aboard a British Airways flight, was found to be carrying what was described as terrorist propaganda in his baggage. A spokesman for Brazil's National Intelligence Service said: “Señor Donald Gold is being held under Brazil's anti-terror laws following the discovery of dangerous propaganda. His baggage contained large glossy pictures of Osama Bin Laden and Kim Jong-Il, which are clearly designed to incite terrorist violence and sedition in our peace-loving country. Señor Gold has been transferred to the jurisdiction of the CIA under Brazil's anti-terror accord with the Government of the United States.”

 

Gold's current whereabouts are unknown. No one at the US State Department in Washington or CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, was available for comment.