Sick, or dangerous?

08/18/2006

BOSTON - Catherine Mayo is a self-described child of the 60s, a lover of folk music and a peace activist who wrote of American life and freedoms in newspaper columns in Pakistan.

She also has a history of mental illness, and was “just barely” lucid when she spoke to the lawyer representing her in a trans-Atlantic plane disturbance that provoked a major security scare.

Federal authorities say Mayo, of Braintree, Vt., passed several notes to crew members, urinated on the cabin floor and made comments the crew believed were references to al-Qaida and the Sept. 11 attacks, according to an affidavit filed Thursday.

The petite 59-year-old woman, wearing a Rolling Stones T-shirt, black pants and white socks without shoes, appeared in federal court Thursday on a charge of interfering with a flight crew that could land her behind bars for up to 20 years.

“She’s got some very serious mental health problems,” said Page Kelley, federal public defender for Mayo, who was ordered held pending a detention and probable cause hearing next Thursday.

U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan said he hoped to learn more about Mayo’s mental state before the next court appearance. “We believe it’s important during that time period to have a doctor examine her,” he said.

Mayo was ordered restrained by the pilot of United Flight 923 Wednesday, and the London-to-Washington, D.C., flight was diverted to Boston, escorted by two F-15 fighter jets.

The scare came just a week after London authorities said they foiled a terror plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights. Federal officials have said they have no indications that Mayo had any links to terrorism.

Mayo’s son, Josh, 31, described his mother as a peace activist and said she had been in Pakistan since March. She made a pen pal there prior to Sept. 11, 2001, he said. Mayo, in columns published in the Daily Times of Pakistan, wrote passionately about being a child of the 60s and unjust wars and American freedoms. In one column published March 18, 2003, she criticized President Bush.

Mayo’s passport indicates she left Pakistan and entered the United Kingdom on Tuesday, according to the affidavit by FBI Special Agent Daniel Choldin filed in U.S. District Court in Boston.

In the affidavit, Choldin says flight attendants noticed Mayo about 90 minutes into the flight because she was pushing against the aircraft bulkhead. When the attendant told her to return to her seat, Mayo said she wanted to speak to an air marshal and made statements about knowing that people wanted to see what was in her bag.

FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz confirmed Thursday that authorities found a screwdriver and an unspecified number of cigarette lighters in her bag, items that are banned under new security regulations. Marcinkiewicz also confirmed that matches were found in Mayo’s bag.

She also had a bottle of water that did not appear to be supplied by the flight crew. It wasn’t clear how the items made it through airport security, which has been significantly tightened and has banned nearly all liquids since the terror plot arrests.

Later during the flight, according to the affidavit, Mayo asked a flight attendant: “Is this a training flight for United Flight 93?” The flight attendant didn’t know if she made a mistake because the flight was actually Flight 923, or if she was referring to Flight 93, the hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11.

She was “biting her fingers, rubbing her feet and in a constant state of movement. She appeared very agitated,” the affidavit said.

She also wrote in a note and said to flight attendants that she had been in a country illegally, and later said she had photographs of Pakistan.

Flight attendants summoned the captain, who spoke to Mayo. During the conversation, she made reference to there being “six steps to building some unspecified thing.”

“She made reference to being with people associated with two words. She stated that she could not say what the two words were because the last time that she had said the two words she had been kicked off of a flight in the United Arab Emirates,” according to the affidavit.

The captain and purser both believed that she was referring to al-Qaida, Choldin wrote.

About 35 minutes later, when she tried to go to the bathroom, the flight attendants directed her to a different lavatory. Instead, she pulled down her pants and urinated on the floor, Choldin wrote in the affidavit, which was based on his interviews and those of other federal officials.

At that point, the captain ordered her restrained. Two male passengers helped a flight attendant tackle Mayo and restrain her in plastic cuffs.

Later during the flight, according to the affidavit, Mayo asked a flight attendant: “Is this a training flight for United Flight 93?” The flight attendant didn’t know if she made a mistake because the flight was actually Flight 923, or if she was referring to Flight 93, the hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11.

She was “biting her fingers, rubbing her feet and in a constant state of movement. She appeared very agitated,” the affidavit said.

She also wrote in a note and said to flight attendants that she had been in a country illegally, and later said she had photographs of Pakistan.

Flight attendants summoned the captain, who spoke to Mayo. During the conversation, she made reference to there being “six steps to building some unspecified thing.”

“She made reference to being with people associated with two words. She stated that she could not say what the two words were because the last time that she had said the two words she had been kicked off of a flight in the United Arab Emirates,” according to the affidavit.

The captain and purser both believed that she was referring to al-Qaida, Choldin wrote.

About 35 minutes later, when she tried to go to the bathroom, the flight attendants directed her to a different lavatory. Instead, she pulled down her pants and urinated on the floor, Choldin wrote in the affidavit, which was based on his interviews and those of other federal officials.

At that point, the captain ordered her restrained. Two male passengers helped a flight attendant tackle Mayo and restrain her in plastic cuffs.