It's clear from the story that neither the stewardess, the pilot, nor the law enforcement agent thought he was an actual threat.
I'm guessing that there is a rule that if a passenger reports a suspicious person, then the plane must be held and law enforcement must be notified. Fortunately, at that point common sense was allowed to take over, rather than spiraling into multiple agencies mindlessly following bad procedures.
Perhaps you wrote this before American Airlines added more details to the article, but: none of the aircraft crew were aware of what was going on when the plane returned to the gate. The woman in the seat next to the victim lied to the air staff and said she was sick, and only when she had got off the plane did she make her accusation.
The law enforcement agent quickly cleared it up after arriving.
Looks like all the staff here did the best they reasonably could do with the information they were given.
I guess it's possible, but that sounds fishy. Why would they delay the plane for a passenger who feels sick? Either you feel fine and you fly, or you don't and you get off the plane. You would never delay a train or a bus for that reason.
If the plane is still on the ground and a passenger says they are too sick to fly, the plane goes back to the gate to let them get off the plane. That's normal.
A passenger said they were too sick to fly, so the plane went back to the gate. When it reached the gate, the passenger changed their story and things got more complicated.
Also, imagine if you complained that your stomach was hurting and you had to get off the plane. If they didn't turn around on the tarmac and then your appendix bursts or something then you or your next of kin owns an airline when the lawsuit is over.
Sure, but you'd imagine that if security personnel are called in, they are expected to spend at least a few minutes noting down what occurred in the incident. "They looked at the paper he was writing on" is very different from "interrogated him in a back room."
I'm guessing that there is a rule that if a passenger reports a suspicious person, then the plane must be held and law enforcement must be notified. Fortunately, at that point common sense was allowed to take over, rather than spiraling into multiple agencies mindlessly following bad procedures.