FBI Busted Into Wrong Hotel Room, Detained Delta Pilot

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Well, this certainly doesn’t happen every day.

A Delta Airlines pilot was handcuffed and interrogated by members of the FBI and the U.S. Army in the bathroom of his hotel room for about a half hour not long ago. The problem was, the authorities got the wrong guy.

The FBI and Department of Defense routinely conduct training exercises so their members are ready in times of crisis. They planned to do such an exercise inside the Revere Hotel in downtown Boston.

The Special Ops agents expected to detain a role player who would pose as a target. Unfortunately, they had been given the wrong room number at the Revere, an upscale hotel which had previously been a Marriott property – The W – until Pebblebrook Hotel Trust purchase the property a little less than a decade ago.

Instead, it was a training raid gone wrong. Instead of shaking down someone who knew what would be happening, they interrogated a (assumed surprised and frightened) man who worked for Delta Air Lines as a pilot – he just happened to be staying at the hotel.

After the incident, the pilot apparently went to the front desk and had them call the Boston police department. Radio logs of the 911 call include what appears to be a confused dispatcher relaying a bizarre report from hotel security:

“Sir, bear with me on this one. Can you swing by the Revere Hotel, 200 Stuart Street? Security called in saying 45 minutes ago, two Delta pilots had people claiming to be FBI Agents barge into their room and handcuff them to the bathroom. And they’ve since left and want to file a report now.”

No one was hurt during the unfortunate incident.

“First and foremost, we’d like to extend our deepest apologies to the individual who was affected by the training exercise,” Lt. Col. Mike Burns of U.S. Army Special Operations Command said in a statement. “The training was meant to enhance soldiers’ skills to operate in realistic and unfamiliar environments. The training team, unfortunately, entered the wrong room and detained an individual unaffiliated with the exercise.

“The Boston Police Department responded to the scene and confirmed that this was indeed a training exercise. The safety of civilians in vicinity of our training is always our number one concern. We are reviewing this serious incident with our partners and no further details will be released at this time,” the remainder of Burns’ statement read.

An FBI spokesperson also confirmed the mishap and said its Boston Division — along with the Defense Department — are now reviewing the incident “for further action as deemed appropriate.”

Delta Air Lines reported they were reaffirming their commitment to ensure the safety and well-being of their employees.