The FBI and the U.S. army captured an innocent Delta Airlines pilot – who was not the intended target – in a training exercise gone wrong in Boston.
The man in his 30s – who had no idea what was happening – is reported to have been sleeping at the time.
After hearing commotion outside his room at the Revere Hotel in Stuart Street in the early hours of Wednesday, he opened the door only to be detained and handcuffed. He was interrogated and held in the shower for nearly an hour, before the error was realised.
The FBI said its Boston division has been assisting the US department of defence in carrying out a training exercise for its agents.
The objective was to “simulate a situation their personnel might encounter in a deployed environment”, but due to a “miscommunication”, the team ended up at the wrong hotel room.
Agents apologised, but hotel security was informed of the mix up and subsequently contacted the Boston police.
A Boston police incident report said officers were called to the scene at approximately 12:20am on Wednesday 4 April and confirmed that the agents were indeed conducting a training exercise.
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Luckily, no one was harmed during the mock mission. Local media report that the pilot refused any treatment and said he needed to speak to his employer before taking any action.
In a statement, the FBI said: “Based on inaccurate information, they were mistakenly sent to the wrong room and detained an individual, not the intended role player. Thankfully nobody was injured.
“The Boston Police Department was called and responded to the scene to confirm that this was indeed a training exercise. Safety is always a priority of the FBI, and our law enforcement partners, and we take these incidents very seriously.”
The FBI Boston division is reviewing the incident with the department of defense over whether to take any further action.
The pilot has not been publicly identified at this time.