29 January 2010

Oman Air Allows In-Flight Cell Phones and Texting


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So here it comes! The ways of WiFi and inflight cell phone usage. Is this a good thing or not? Some parts are good especially in the light of the recent inflight issues, fights and terrorist type attacks onboard the airlines these days! The bad, will be the loud talker on a cell phone or if someone has to listen to a guy argue with his woman and not be mindful of the area he is in and what he says! This will be one of the biggest problems the airlines will have in the future.

American carriers are not there yet but I know it's coming in the near future and it won't be as good as the non-U.S. carriers. Americans will more than likely abuse this service before is implemented on all carriers. Flight attendants can barely get passengers to listen to them now about not using electronic devices and when, not to mention overnight flight and the disturbance of sleeping passengers. Now we eventually will give the passengers access to cell phones and texting during flight.

This would be a good opportunity to start training the passengers on how to travel and get the most beneficial use of their portable electronic devices before, during and after the flight! I don't totally agree with it because I know how passengers will be especially when the passenger on the phone is keeping sleeping passengers awake during the flight. Omar Air is one of the few non-U.S. carriers that has it's airplanes fitted with the equipment to handle phone calls and texting so we will see what problems may arise because of it! Hopefully it will give the U.S. carriers some data to make better decision on how to implement this new service!!!

Below you will find the Oman Air press release to get the whole story!

Enjoy your flight and remember To Be Proactive And Not Reactive!!!
BlkAv8tor2003

Oman Air first impressed us with their unnecessarily nice bathrooms, but now they are moving forward to ruin the entire flight experience—maybe. They are launching full mobile capabilities for first class, business, and economy customers. That means cell phones for all up in the skies. You’ll be welcome to text, tweet, and call all of your friends from your seat. Things should be up and running by the middle of February, which is just in time to apologize to your sweetie for not being home on Valentine’s Day.

In-flight WiFi is also coming to the airline’s entire fleet of Airbus A330s, but cell phones ringing throughout the cabin has us worried. We’ve heard some awful ring tones and text message alerts, and are really hoping that passengers leave things on silent. The airline does promise that the crews will control the services, and that the mobile magic can be limited during quiet times like overnight flights.

Oman Air, the national carrier of the Sultanate of Oman, becomes the first airline in the world to offer the full connectivity suite (Mobile OnAir and Internet OnAir) on its commercial widebody aircraft when it starts to unroll full mobile phone and Wi-Fi connectivity across its brand new Airbus A330 fleet by the middle of February.

The move will give passengers in First, Business and Economy classes the opportunity to make and receive mobile phone calls, SMS, use email and the Internet and keep up to date with social networking media, such as Facebook and Twitter.

Launching the new service, Oman Air’s Chief Executive Officer, Peter Hill, says:
“We are delighted to be leading the field by bringing the digital age to in-flight passenger communications. From mid-February we will be unrolling full connectivity across our Airbus A330 fleet, completing the task in the summer. This great new service will enrich the passenger experience and complement the stunning new interiors we are offering in all three classes of travel.

“For many travelers, the ability to communicate via phone, SMS, email or Internet is a vital part of everyday life and staying in contact with friends, family or colleagues will constitute huge benefits for Oman Air’s customers. People are increasingly expecting Internet and mobile connectivity “anywhere, anytime” and what better place is there than on an Oman Air A330, when you have a few quiet hours to catch up on your email, browse the Internet or return that quick phone call.”

Availability of the service will be controlled by the crew to ensure a minimum of disturbance to passengers during, for example, the quietest periods of overnight flights.

Oman Air’s A330 fleet has been fitted with the Airbus ALNA V2 system, using Honeywell’s
SwiftBroadband (SBB) solution. This supports both mobile phone and Internet in-flight communication, ensuring that whatever devices passengers choose to use, they will receive a swift and effective service.

http://www.omanair.com/wy/aboutus/aboutus_media_center/about_media_presrelses/releases_334.htm

27 January 2010

John Travolta Brings Jetload Of Supplies To Haiti


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This is what you call "PIMP" status in a good way! John Travolta uses his "V-Jet" to help efforts in Haiti! This is one of the reasons why I like him!!!

BlkAv8tor2003






FILE - In this July 12, 2002 file photo, actor John Travolta stands next to one of the engines of his personal jet after he arrived in Sydney, Australia on the Spirit of Friendship world tour for Qantas airline. The 55-year-old actor and avid pilot plans to fly one of his private jets from Florida to Haiti bringing relief supplies on Monday night Jan. 25, 2010, according to Travolta's spokesman, Paul Bloch. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith, File)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - John Travolta has flown a jetliner carrying relief supplies into the Haitian capital, along with doctors and ministers from the Church of Scientology.

The 55-year-old actor piloted his own Boeing 707 from Florida with six tons of ready-to-eat military rations and medical supplies for survivors of Haiti's devastating Jan. 12 earthquake late Monday.
His wife, Kelly Preston, was also aboard.
"We have the ability to actually help make a difference in the situation in Haiti and I just can't see not using this plane to help," Travolta said.



















Travolta compared the mission to aid efforts following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. "We were there right away, with this airplane, because you know we have the ability and the means to do this so I think you have responsibility on some level to do that."

John Travolta's Boeing 707 (B707-138) N707JT

Aid groups have been desperate to fly their own planes into the over-stressed airport. U.N. humanitarian spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said Tuesday that at least 800 planes with relief items are on a waiting list for the airport, which can handle only about 130 flights a day due to a lack of space to park planes as they unload.

The aid group Doctors Without Borders has complained that the flight scheduling priorities of U.S. military controllers running the airport delayed the arrival of field hospitals, resulting in some deaths.
More than 150,000 people have already been buried since the magnitude-7 quake, which destroyed entire Port-au-Prince neighborhoods and landmarks and crumbled nearby towns.
Hundreds of thousands of people are living in the streets, with scores of injured wanting for proper medical care.

Travolta and Preston returned to Florida as soon as their supplies and passengers were unloaded.
Travolta's house is the ultimate boys' fantasy home made real. Aside from the parking lots for the brace of jets, Boeing 707-138 (N707JT)and a Gulfstream G-II (N492JT) there is a garden in the guise of a heliport, further parking for at least 6 cars, a swimming pool with hot tub,a 1.4-mile runway, a gym and stables for the 75 horses down the road.

26 January 2010

Jewish Prayer Sparks Mid-Flight Bomb Alert



A US Airways passenger plane had to be diverted after a young Jewish man's prayer items sparked a bomb scare.


Passengers on the US Airways plane raised the alarm
The Kentucky-bound flight was forced into a premature landing after cabin crew became alarmed when the 17-year-old began using Tefillin, a small set of black boxes containing religious passages.


When used in prayer, one box is placed on the head and one box is attached to the arm with leather strapping.
Fellow passengers raised the alarm before cabin crew decided to make the emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport.
Once landed, the teenager, who was travelling with his 16-year-old sister, was removed from the plane by security personnel and after satisfying security measures the flight was allowed to continue its journey.


Frances Winchell, the teenager's grandmother who was waiting for him at Louisville International Airport, said: "He hadn't had the opportunity to pray, so that is why he did it on the plane.
"But in any event, all is well that ends well and maybe some good will come to the world because of it."
Concerns about passengers carrying bombs have been heightened since a man was accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound flight using explosives concealed in his underwear on Christmas Day.




Dad Speaks Out On Airplane Prayer Scare Suggests Religious Sensitivity Training

We're learning more about just what happened when a flight made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport on Thursday morning.

And we got our first glimpse of the innocent teenager who put authorities on high alert.
The flight was diverted to Philadelphia International Airport and landed around 8:50 a.m. due to a suspected explosive onboard.
It turned out it was actually a prayer box. Rabbi Ira Stone from Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel explained to

MyFoxPhilly what a Tefillin is and how it may have caused confusion on the plane.

Tefillin Explained


"They're called Tefillin, the Hebrew plural for the word filla, which means prayer," Stone said. "They contain within them some parchments that contain words from the Holy Scriptures."
If one travels on El Al airlines, for example, one would see a dozen people standing up in the morning.”
Passengers who were detained at the airport Thursday morning had all reached their destinations by Thursday night, but a lot of them were wondering how this could have happened in the first place.


The boy and his sister finally arrived in Kentucky on Thursday night. He and his sister left New York on a commuter flight Thursday morning.
The pilot diverted the flight after a flight attendant on the plane said she saw him using a prayer box and thought it was an explosive.
The airplane taxied to a remote location. Police and bomb technicians boarded the plane, and officers quickly figured out the object was not an explosive.


"When you get information that there's someone on the plane who's wearing a device, and they describe it as wires being connected to two different parts of the device, immediately you look at – you think of the worst-case scenario," police Chief Inspector Joseph Sullivan said.
It turned out the teenager was attempting to pray with a prayer box known as a Tefillin.
His cousin showed news cameras Thursday night just how it attaches to your head and arm to pray.


"There's one for your arm and one for your head. This is the one for your head. So, you put it on like this, and the strap's going to pull across your body," said Zev Winchell, the teen's cousin.
Passengers on the flight were delayed and then questioned by the FBI on the ground in Philly.
In Louisville, some said Thursday night they felt airlines need to be better trained to recognize the difference between a religious object and a bomb.


"I think the airlines need to have some kind of sensitivity training toward religious beliefs so that someone's not confused about praying while they're flying. And maybe that will prevent that in the future," said passenger Joseph Satterly.

And the Philadelphia police chief inspector said he is very pleased with how his officers responded to what could have been a potential emergency
"We're in very precarious times, and it requires a different kind of playbook," Sullivan said.
On Thursday night, the father of the teen at the center of the incident spoke out about what his son says happened.


Glen Leibowitz said his son told him, "The man, you know, with a gun had taken them both off of the plane. They put them in handcuffs and then loaded them into a van. And they then quickly realized it was a horrible overreaction on the part of the stewardess."
The boy and his sister were in Louisville with their grandmother Thursday night.

Dad Speaks Out On Airplane Prayer Scare
"I think the airlines need to have some kind of sensitivity training toward religious beliefs so that someone's not confused about praying while they're flying. And maybe that will prevent that in the future," said passenger Joseph Satterly."


The airlines do have and train their crew members to recognize and respect different cultures and customs!" The passengers must realize not every religious nuance is going to be recognized by the flight attendants or the pilots.


It is the passengers responsibility to advise the flight crew or agents when they fly that they have a “special need concern or religious action” that they adhere to before or during flight (Primarily in the U.S.). This way the crew can accommodate the passenger’s wishes or assist in giving them the privacy they need to observe a religious practice.

As a former flight attendant and now a pilot I can say with absolute experience, passengers already think that the airplane is a restaurant, living room and their own private bathroom! FYI!


The airplane is a public community and nothing is completely yours! When passengers start planning ahead and being proactive and recognizing that there are things in the world that be looked at differently than what once was, then and only then will airline travel be a better experience!

Don't worry though I won't be holding my breath for the American airline traveler!!! I have a better chance at meeting the Pope!!!

Remember To Be Proactive And Not Reactive and enjoy your flight!!!
BlkAv8tor2003

Student Pranked By Philadelphia TSA Worker

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So when you fly you thought you could not be mistaken for a drug dealer or a terrorist? Think again! The normal practices of hiding something in or around a passengers luggage by a TSA security is very real and happens all the time. You just may have never been selected so this is why your probably not familiar with it!
The TSA will place fake bomb parts, fake hand guns, drugs or knives to see if the security agent catches it. This is strictly a test for the agents and you have no control over when it happens or by doing anything different you can lessen your chance of being selected.
This particular case sounds like a TSA agent was just trying to be funny at the expense of someone else and it ended up with the security agent being disciplined and then eventually leaving the TSA. Fired or resignation is not known. Usually when something like this happens if the agent finds the item, the passengers is flagged, hand searched and let go with minimal interactions or questions. This one freaked the passenger out and I don't think the agent expected that big a reaction. The agent let the passenger stutter through questions as a part of the humorous side of prank although things went wrong!
This was a prank gone wrong and the agent lost their employment because of it! I hope this is a wake up call for everyone while traveling and not to take things for face value. Just plan for anything and you will be better off in the long run!
Be Proactive and Not Reactive and enjoy your flight!!!
BlkAv8tor2003
Man planted bag of white powder in bag, no longer works for agency



AP updated 10:59 a.m. MT, Mon., Jan. 25, 2010

PHILADELPHIA - A college student returning to school after the winter break fell victim to a prank at Philadelphia's airport by a Transportation Security Administration worker who pretended to plant a plastic bag of white powder in her carryon luggage. The worker is no longer employed by the TSA after the incident this month, a spokeswoman said.

Rebecca Solomon, 22, a University of Michigan student, wrote in a column for her campus newspaper that she was having her bags screened on Jan. 5 before her flight to Detroit when the employee stopped her, reached into her laptop computer bag and pulled out the plastic bag, demanding to know where she had gotten the powder.

In the Jan. 10 column for The Michigan Daily, she recounted how she struggled to come up with an explanation, wondering if it was bomb-detonating material slipped in by a terrorist or drugs put there by a smuggler.

"He let me stutter through an explanation for the longest minute of my life," Solomon wrote. "Tears streamed down my face as I pleaded with him to understand that I'd never seen this baggie before."

A short time later, she said, the worker smiled and said it was his.
The worker "waved the baggie at me and told me he was kidding, that I should've seen the look on my face," she said.


Solomon said she asked to speak to a supervisor and filled out a complaint, and during that process was told that the man was training TSA workers to detect contraband. Two days later, she said, she was told he had been disciplined.
"I had been terrified and disrespected by an airport employee," she said. "He'd joked about the least funny thing in air travel."



There was no answer Saturday at a telephone listing for Solomon at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. An e-mail message seeking comment from her was sent Saturday by The Associated Press, and a telephone message was left at her parents' home in suburban Philadelphia.
TSA spokeswoman Suzanne Trevino said late Saturday that the employee was no longer with the agency but did not say whether he had been fired or quit, referring only to "disciplinary action" taken by the TSA.
She also declined to identify the worker or his job title, citing privacy laws. She said she did not know whether his actions would be subject to criminal charges.
"The behavior exhibited by this TSA employee was highly inappropriate and unprofessional," Trevino said in a statement.
Is this where security at the airport is going??? lol It may look funny but you never know, especially with the implimentation of the full body scanners at security checkpoints!

21 January 2010

US Airways Saves Flight From Dangerous Xbox 360 Threat


Adam was flying out of Boston on US Airways, and he checked his Xbox 360 with his luggage. When he got home, he found a Ziploc bag full of little metal components on top of a newly broken Xbox 360.

He is understandably pissed off, and US Airways has essentially told him to piss off because it was done for security reasons. Of course! We all know that if an Xbox 360 is checked, it could be used by the pilots, which would be distracting and dangerous. Only by rendering it inoperable was US Airways able to keep our skies safe. Thanks, you wonderful, sensible airline!

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2010/01/us-airways-saves-flight-from-dangerous-xbox-360-threat/

Gizmodo Australia - Adam Frucci

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This is a new one for the books! Airline destroys passengers XBox 360 and tells him too bad? I found this as I was looking around on the net and I stumbled onto this story. I live in Phoenix where US Airways is based and it hasn't popped up in the news on local TV or radio. None of the major news sites have said anything yet but it may be on by morning. Several sites were saying the pic is used for illustration purposes and it's not the actual gaming console.

I don't know what to believe on this one but I'll keep an ear out to see if it has any validity in it! If the airline diddo something like this, it's really wrong and they should be held responsible! Not all of the blame goes to the airline though. The passenger should have not checked it in the first place...DUH!!! Why would you check something like that? They are not cheap and if the passenger loves it so much he should have had it in his carry-on baggage with him in the cabin.

Obviously he is not a seasoned traveler at all! Checking electronic devices in your checked luggage is insane to say the least and if he had to check it at the last minute he should have taken it out of the bag. Most agent will let you do that at least so he still should have not had it in his checked luggage! He kinda deserved what he got in a sense! This should show everyone when you fly that you can't trust what you don't see!

if nothing else he should have sent it via FedEx or UPS to his destination to save the heart ache of the whole situation. this is what all passengers who fly (not for business travelers) and know where they are going and are going to be there longer than a day or two so that you can send your baggage ahead, track it and know when it has arrived...even before the traveler has left the departure city.

Adam Frucci is the passenger this supposedly happened to and I feel sorry for him in this situation but part of this is his fault for being the stupid passenger and he got treated pretty bad from what the story said so my suggestion to Adam is to stay after the airline, I hope he got names of the agents he dealt with and flight numbers, times and dates because any loop holes in his documentation and the airline may send him walking. This way he can account for everything he went through and with whom he talked to.

The agents that that he dealt with in baggage claim should be reprimanded or more because they should have investigated this further, involved supervisors from both the departure city and his final destination plus any intermediate stops the flight may have made whether there was an aircraft swap or not bags can be removed and placed in other aircraft cargo bins for weight and balance purposes so the bag could have been tampered with in the process.

This will be an interesting story...I wonder will it be like the United Airlines smashed guitars incident?

We shall see!!!

20 January 2010

EMAS Stops PSA Airlines CRJ2 at Charleston (KCRW)

A PSA Airlines Canadair CRJ-200 on behalf of US Airways, registration N246PS performing flight JIA-2495/US-2495 from Charleston,WV to Charlotte,NC (USA) with 30 passengers and 3 crew, overran runway 23 after rejecting takeoff at high speed at 16:13L (21:13Z) and got to a stop in the EMAS (Engineered Material Arrestor System) past the end of runway 23. No injuries occured, the airplane received substantial damage and probably needs its landing gear replaced.The airport had to be closed for about 5.5 hours until the airplane was removed from the arrestor bed.
The airport reported, that the airplane aborted the takeoff and came to a stop about 130 feet (40 meters) down the EMAS. The EMAS, which was installed in 2007, worked perfectly.

A standard EMAS installation extends 600 feet from the end of the runway. An EMAS arrestor bed can still be installed to help slow or stop an aircraft that overruns the runway, even if less than 600 feet of land is available.
(EMAS) is a bed of lightweight, crushable concrete built at the end of a runway. The purpose of an EMAS is to stop an aircraft overrun with no human injury and minimal aircraft damage (usually none). The aircraft is slowed by the loss of energy required to crush the concrete blocks. An EMAS is similar in concept to the runaway truck ramp made of gravel. It is intended to stop aircraft that have overshot a runway when there is an insufficient free space for a standard runway safety area (RSA).
Currently, EMAS is installed at 42 runway ends at 28 airports in the United States, with plans to install 6 EMAS systems at 6 additional U.S. airports.
EMAS Arrestments

To date, there have been four incidents where the technology has worked successfully to arrest aircraft which overrun the runway and in several cases has prevented injury to passengers and damage to the aircraft.
Metars:
KCRW 192154Z 00000KT 10SM BKN050 BKN080 12/05 A2991 RMK AO2 SLP129 T01170050
KCRW 192150Z 00000KT 10SM BKN050 BKN080 12/05 A2991 RMK AO2
KCRW 192054Z 00000KT 10SM BKN046 BKN055 13/05 A2990 RMK AO2 SLP128 T01280050 56015
KCRW 191954Z 00000KT 10SM SCT036 SCT050 BKN075 12/05 A2991 RMK AO2 SLP131 T01220050
KCRW 191854Z 20005KT 10SM SCT030 BKN060 11/05 A2992 RMK AO2 SLP134 T01060050
KCRW 191847Z 23006KT 10SM SCT030 BKN060 11/05 A2992 RMK AO2
KCRW 191754Z 29003KT 10SM OVC026 09/04 A2995 RMK AO2 SLP144 T00940044 10100 20017 58011
KCRW 191654Z 00000KT 10SM OVC019 08/04 A2998 RMK AO2 SLP155 T00830039
KCRW 191554Z 00000KT 7SM BKN022 BKN032 06/03 A2998 RMK AO2 SLP157 T00610033

By Simon Hradecky, created Tuesday, Jan 19th 2010 23:39Z, last updated Wednesday, Jan 20th 2010 08:49Z

The Aviation Herald

18 January 2010

Haitian Evacuee The Culprit in JFK Security Breach

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So another person sets off alarms by going through security doors...Yes "doors!" This man went through two doors and eventually made it all the way home! How does this happen, especially going into secure areas and making it out of the terminal onto some type of transportation and all the way home? Police found him there and now he is up on charges. Read the full story at The Gothamist.

My question is how did he get down onto the ground level from the terminal level and was never challenged by anyone before exiting to the street level? Then he obviously had to open another door or two to get outside the airport operations area (AOA) and set of additional alarms alerting security officials to his latest position. After working in the would of the airlines I can say for a fact that it is drilled into your head when you first get your airport I.D. that if you can't see someones airport I.D. then you challenge them to prove they are allowed to be there...in uniform or not!

How this happens at the one of the busiest airports in the world is beyond me. Mr. Jules Bouloute will be in some kind of trouble for sure but I hope several security employees and airline personal are in trouble for allowing something like this to happen. Security is already heightened and this is not the time to be complacent and assume anything. I will be interested to see what comes of this crazy event at JFK!

Enjoy your travels and remember "Be Proactive Not Reactive!!!
BlkAv8tor2003

A Haitian evacuee has been arrested for shirking security protocol at JFK, causing hours-long delay in terminal 8. Yesterday afternoon 57-year-old Jules Bouloute walked through a door that led to a restricted area, setting off an alarm. The terminal was evacuated and passengers waited for hours to be re-screened. Bouloute, who narrowly escaped Haiti after Tuesday’s earthquake, is now facing threats of a legal nature.

To get out of Haiti, Bouloute fled to the Dominican Republic and then flew to Orlando on Friday. He spent the night there, then proceeded to his home in Brooklyn, via JFK, reported the NY Post. He arrived safely at the terminal, but instead of leaving he made a detour through a door that was clearly marked “For Authorized Personnel Only.” Surveillance footage captured Bouloute passing through a first door, near Gate 5, at 3:06 p.m., a source told the NY Daily News. A minute later he strolled through a second door, setting off an alarm, and walked out at ground level.

See Full Story at The Gothamist

15 January 2010

Former Airline Employee Wore Uniform to Rob Bank


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I know we are in a recession and time are hard to say the least but this tops it all I think! A former Southwest Airlines ramp employee in his old ramp agent uniform went into a bank in the Chicago and robbed it in uniform! How crazy is that???

Police caught him pretty quick after some top notch investigating...Going to Chicago Midway Airport (KMDW) and talking with a few employees and before long the police had his name, addy and who knows what else!

I would be curious to see if this is disgruntled employee trying to get back at Southwest Airlines instead of "Going Postal" and shooting innocent people. I guess he figured bad press all ways works, especially with the airlines current performance and employee morale!

I guess when you snap, you'll do anything! This definitely is an interesting story. Here is the full story and you will see what I mean!!!

Have a good flight and always remember to "Be Proactive and Not Reactive!!!
BlkAv8tor2003

Why is it that we never hear stories of smart bank robbers? For some reason, when someone decides to rob a bank, it is usually someone as dumb as a bag of rocks. Take for example 24 year old Deoquisto Dennis.
According to the FBI, this Chicago resident walked into a TCF bank branch on South Cicero Avenue in Burbank, handed the teller a note demanding cash, and threatened to harm if his demands were not met.

Now, most bank robbers use face masks, and dark clothes — they understand that leaving any clues about their identity may screw up their plans of instant wealth. Sadly, Mr. Dennis could not find a suitable bank robbers outfit, so he allegedly put on the uniform he used to wear when he worked for Southwest Airlines.
Imagine a bank robber walking in with a Southwest Airlines sweatshirt and a fluorescent ramp workers vest — can you think of a more useless outfit? Of course, with the whole thing caught on tape, all the cops had to do was take the footage to Midway airport, interview a couple of employees and within hours they had a name.

Dennis has now been charged, and was released under bond with a home confinement, awaiting his next court date. In addition to his TCF Bank heist, he is also a suspect in four other Chicago area bank robberies around the same time.
He had been charged in a federal criminal complaint filed last week with one count of bank robbery.
According to the complaint, Dennis entered the TCF Bank branch at 7910 S. Cicero Ave. in Burbank about 2 p.m. on Dec. 22, approached a teller and handed her a note demanding cash. The note also threatened harm if his demands were not met. After taking just over $700, the robber fled on foot.

At the time of the robbery, Dennis was wearing a blue Southwest Airlines sweatshirt and safety vest, commonly worn by airport ramp workers, the release said.
Because of the airline vest worn at the time of the robbery, Southwest personnel were contacted and shown photos of the robber captured by bank surveillance. Several employees allegedly identified Dennis, a former employee. According to employees, Dennis was employed as a ramp agent and would have worn a blue jumpsuit with a reflective vest, according to the release.
The employees also said Southwest does not require the return of uniforms when employees leave their jobs.

Though not charged with additional crimes, Dennis is suspected of the robbery of the TCF branch at 8801 S. Ridgeland Ave. in Oak Lawn on Dec. 17, and the attempted robbery of a Chase Bank branch at 4730 W. 79th St. in Chicago on Dec. 16., the release said.
He appeared late Tuesday before Magistrate Judge Geraldine Soat Brown, who allowed Dennis' release on a secured bond but placed him under home confinement. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.