Sheridan Elementary School Principal Xennie Weeks prides himself on ensuring the safety and security of both his students and staff at Sheridan.

“I’d rather be too safe than too sorry,” he says.

Little did Weeks know that these words would hit home while he was cruising at 20,000 feet above Washington State on Northwest Airlines Flight 980.

For Weeks, July 25 was a day like none other.

It was the last day of his two-week summer vacation excursion to Canada and Alaska, places he has always wanted to visit. Weeks flew from Columbia to Memphis, Tenn., and from Memphis to Vancouver, British Columbia.

From Vancouver, he traveled by train to Ketchikan, Alaska and then to the state capital of Juneau.

“I wanted to do some things I have never done before,” Weeks said. “I was able to salmon fish ... I was able to lead a sled of huskies ... and to see an actual glacier ... and gold mining. I try to do something exciting every summer.”

But like the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.

On that Wednesday morning, Weeks awoke at 3 a.m. in Fairbanks to meet his airport shuttle at 4 a.m. for the flight to Seattle.

After successfully landing in Seattle, he embarked on his flight to Memphis for a scheduled flight time of 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time.

About 20 minutes into the flight, Weeks and the plane’s 142 passengers were informed the plane was being turned around and was heading back to Seattle.

“Two guys sitting next to me said, ‘What do you think is going on?’ I (thought) it was a terrorist attack and they were clearing the air or a bomb threat,” Weeks said.

A man sitting next to Weeks texted his brother on his Blackberry to see if they could find out the reason for the abrupt turnaround.

“As we were landing back in Seattle, his brother said Fox News had reported there was a bomb on board the plane,” Weeks said. “I immediately got a very upset stomach and wondered if this was God’s plan for my final demise.”

“As soon as we landed, here comes all these fire trucks, ambulances, security cars,” he continued. “They surrounded the airplane.”

Weeks said after sitting in the plane for some time, a man from Homeland Security came on board and removed two women.

“We sat on the plane about three hours,” Weeks said, noting that officials never actually informed the passengers of the reason for the delay or what went on. “As we got off the plane, we were greeted by dogs ... that sniffed my carry-on and then sniffed me. They did everybody.”

After being sniffed, Weeks boarded a bus for the airport terminal.

At the airport, passengers were not greeted by dogs but by about 100 law enforcement from the FBI, airport security and Homeland Security.

Another thorough search was conducted of the passengers.

“It was calm,” Weeks said, describing the incident. “It could have been chaotic. It was a very calm, subdued atmosphere. Bravo to the American people.”

Two days following the incident, Seattle-based KOMO-TV, the Seattle Times and other media reported federal prosecutors filed charges against a Tennessee doctor of Asian descent who was accused of making a bomb threat because he missed his Seattle flight with his luggage on board.

According to FBI reports, the man used an airport pay phone to call 911 three times about a bomb on board the plane after he arrived at the gate too late. A bystander is said to have overheard the man making the calls and reported him to authorities. Later reports say the women escorted off the plane were not charged.

According to KOMO-TV, the airlines lost $70,000 as a result of the hoax.

By 4 p.m., officials had finished their sweep of the plane without finding a bomb on board.

Weeks said he boarded the plane shortly after and took flight around 5 p.m. Wednesday night.

Upon his arrival in Memphis the next day around midnight, Weeks, who was going on 24 hours without sleep, said he was treated like a king.

“I was dead, dead tired,” he said.

Northwest Airlines made arrangements for a Columbia flight and lodging for the night in Memphis. The airlines also gave Weeks a free airline ticket for future travel.

But the excitement was not over.

A complimentary toiletry kit from the airlines would make Weeks a target the next day of airport security.

“I had it (the toiletry kit) on my carry-on bag, and they stopped me,” Weeks said, explaining that security had noticed something in his carry-on. “It was the razor they had put in my toiletry bag. I thought it was funny because they gave me a gift and then I was being stopped for the gift they gave me. But it goes to show that airport security works.”

Despite the experience, Weeks praised the airlines in their handling of the situation.

“I was proud that Northwestern’s number one priority was safety,” he said. “I am a big cheerleader for Northwestern because they did what they were supposed to do. Even though I was delayed. I am grateful that we were all safe.”

Will the experience stop Weeks from flying again?

“No way,” he said, adding that previous summers have found him in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City.

He even went to New Orleans a few weeks before Hurricane Katrina struck the city.

“I guess you could say disaster follows me. I don’t know,” Weeks said.

T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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