Plane evacuated in AZ after suspicious Jordanian national boards with canceled ticket

A “suspicious” Jordanian national was somehow able to board an international flight in Arizona despite having a canceled ticket and a flagged boarding pass — with the plane forced to evacuate when he started pacing the aircraft and refusing to take his seat, authorities said.Qais Ahmad Tillawi cleared TSA and boarded Sunday’s 3:50 p.m.Air France Flight to Paris despite his ticket, which he bought less than two hours before takeoff, being canceled over an “unauthorized credit card,” according to an FBI affidavit.Tillawi — who had previously been committed to a mental health hospital after an earlier airport arrest — abandoned his rental car on the way to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, and also tossed two jackets into a trash can, the affidavit said.The one-time Arizona State University student was able to get a boarding pass before his ticket was canceled, and then alarmed other passengers with his bizarre behavior, the docs said.“While Tillawi was in the boarding area, an Air France passenger reported to an Air France employee that Tillawi was acting suspicious,” the affidavit reads.His boarding pass had been tagged and set off an alert at the gate.

But he was still somehow allowed on the plane despite refusing to hand over his passport to a customer service rep, only showing it from a distance and then thrusting it up close to her face, the affidavit said.The Air France rep later admitted that she only checked one of multiple passenger lists — and did not see Tillawi’s name on it.Still, Tillawi walked down the jet bridge and boarded the aircraft — and then refused to take his seat, instead passing around the aircraft while refusing to give his anme, the document said.When he refused the captain’s orders to get off, he typed out a message on his phone allegedly reading, “Send the USA marshal.”Phoenix cops were scrambled, and the flight evacuated, with Tillawi the last to be taken off.Under questioning, he refused to speak,...