Will Dyncorp and Fluor protest the CTP task order award for LOGCAP IV

Am I the only one that thinks there SHOULD be a whole lot of this name calling going on?

There is a whole lot of speculation going on about whether Dyncorp and Fluor will protest the award of the CTP task order. The CTP task order is the first LOGCAP IV task order to be award in Iraq and was awarded to KBR This CTP task order will cover Corps Logistics Support Services (CLSS), Theater Transportation Mission (TTM), Postal Services, Ice Plant Operations, and some Air Terminal Operations to support the U.S. armed forces throughout Iraq.

This task award was very surprising to most, especially after KBR received a zero award fee for poor performance just the day before they were awarded this task order. Rumor has it even the majority of KBR was surprised, but I’m certain there were some KBR exec’s in Virginia that were aware of what was happening.

There is also an enormous amount of anger amongst members of Congress and they are demanding accountability from the Army on this decision.

All you Fluor and Dyncorp insiders, what’s the word on a protest. Fill us in.

Also, all you contract experts. What is the possibility the Army could be forced to reverse their decision on this task order award?

Ms Sparky

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What happened to KBR’s Bill Walter and Michael Hatch?

Last weekend I got my first hint there was something amiss at KBR Headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. (we all know there is something amiss with KBR…..I mean something specific!)  I was told that allegedly Mr. William “Bill” Walter and Mr. Michael Hatch were no longer employed by KBR. I have been told they were “fired” and also I have been told they “resigned”.

On top of that there are the “not so insignificant” number hits I am getting from internet search engines like this one below:

Fort Belvoir, Virginia arrived from google.com on “» DFAC” by searching for Bill Walter & KBR & Fired. 14:55:46 — (this one was from 03/05/2010)

William (Bill) Walter – Some internet references refer to Mr. Walter as Senior Vice President for Government Compliance. Others refer to Mr. Walter as Director of Government Compliance for KBR’s Government Operations unit. Either way, according the Halliburton/KBR’s site Mr. Walter has overall responsibility for all U.S. government compliance functions, including Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) audits and government interface, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) compliance, cost accounting standards, pricing compliance, training and compliance policy. Mr. Walter has more than 15 years as a leading defense industry compliance consultant.

You may remember Mr. Walter from his recent appearances on KBR’s behalf before the esteemed members of the Commission on Wartime Contracting. (Read the rest of the story here…)

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David Isenberg – KBR: Failing Upwards

David IsenbergHuffington Post
Author, Shadow Force: Private Security Contractors in Iraq (Praeger Security International)
Posted: March 5, 2010

I wonder who comes up with this KBR stuff?

Up is down, night is day, and now, in the best tradition of George Orwell’s 1984 newspeak KBR — the company that was the subject of a recent Department of Defense Inspect General report that found that the Army broke federal procurement rules in 2004, when two commanding generals improperly directed a contracting officer to pay millions of dollars in fees to KBR Inc., when funds should have been withheld, per the language in the contract with KBR – has been awarded its first task order under the newest version of LOGCAP.

For those who don’t know, LOGCAP is the mother of all logistics support contracts. Without it the U.S. Army simply can’t function.

The award also comes just a week after the Army announced that KBR would not be awarded $25 million in bonuses under the LOGCAP III Iraq support contract because KBR “failed to meet a level deserving of an award fee payment for work it did during the first four months of 2008.” Although the Army did not specifically cite it when announcing the withholding of the payment KBR’s “failed” work occurred during the time a Green Beret was electrocuted in a barracks shower in Iraq KBR was responsible for maintaining. (Read the rest of the story here…)

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Judge rules against Army in favor of KBR and the retired General who has sold his soul for $650.00hr

Ex-commander in Iraq to give deposition in KBR case

By MARY FLOOD – March 3, 2010, 11:03PM

Despite the Army’s efforts to block it, retired Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who once led U.S. forces in Iraq, is scheduled to be deposed today as an expert for KBR in a lawsuit over a deadly civilian truck convoy attack in Iraq.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Johnson refused Wednesday to grant the Army’s request to prevent Sanchez from giving his expert opinions in the case.

Drivers and family members suing KBR contend the company should have stopped the convoys when it was warned that attacks would increase on April 9, 2004, the first anniversary of the day allies in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq reached Baghdad.

Sanchez, who at $650 an hour is already owed about $91,000 in expert fees, says KBR is not at fault for the six deaths and other injuries.

Sanchez wrote a report saying it was an Army communication error that led the attacked convoys to go down a road some in the military knew was supposed to be closed to civilian traffic. (Read the rest of the story here…)

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Not so fast KBR – Lawmakers demand answers from Pentagon

Lawmakers challenge Army decisions on KBR

By Andrea Shalal-Esa – 7:31pm EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives on Wednesday questioned the Army’s continued use of KBR Inc for logistics work in Iraq in the face of confirmed reports of poor past performance.

Representative Edolphus Towns, who heads the House Oversight Committee, wrote to Defense Secretary Robert Gates to question the Army’s decision to award KBR a new contract valued at up to $2.8 billion despite a wide array of problems.

Towns, citing problems with KBR’s maintenance of electrical systems at bases where U.S. troops were fatally electrocuted and “numerous allegations of waste, fraud, and abuse,” asked Gates to provide the committee with a wide array of documents about the KBR contract by March 17.

“It seems inconceivable to me that the Defense Department would award this new contract to KBR in Iraq,” Towns said, citing the company’s “poor past performance.”

“When multiple deaths of service men and women are not enough to preclude the award of a new contract, it makes me wonder what it takes for a contractor to be fired.” (Read the rest of the story here…)

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KBR Press Release on LOGCAP IV Task Order 2

KBR Awarded Major Task Order Under Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) IV Contract

Houston, Texas – March 2, 2010 – KBR (NYSE: KBR) today announced it has been awarded a task order by the U.S. Army Contracting Command under its current Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) IV contract. KBR will execute the LOGCAP IV Corps Logistics Support Services (CLSS), Theater Transportation mission (TTM), and Postal Services Task Order in Iraq. The Period of Performance is one base year plus four option years. The award represents KBR’s first major Task Order under the LOGCAP IV contract.

Under the task order KBR will provide the following: (Read the rest of the story here…)

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Army awards lucrative Iraq support contract to KBR

By KIMBERLY HEFLING and RICHARD LARDNER (AP)

WASHINGTON — Defense giant KBR Inc. was awarded a contract potentially worth $2.8 billion for support work in Iraq as U.S. forces continue to leave the country, military authorities said Tuesday.

KBR was notified of the award Friday, a day after the company told shareholders it lost about $25 million in award fees because of flawed electrical work in Iraq.

The Houston-based company was charged with maintaining the barracks where Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth of Pittsburgh, a 24-year-old Green Beret, was electrocuted in 2008 while showering. The company has denied wrongdoing, and investigators said in August there was “insufficient evidence to prove or disprove” that anyone was criminally culpable in Maseth’s death.

The uproar over his death triggered a review of 17 other electrocution deaths in Iraq and widespread inspections and repairs of electrical work in Iraq, much of it performed by KBR.

Dan Carlson, a spokesman for the Army Sustainment Command in Rock Island, Ill., said the new contract is for one year, with an option for four more. KBR will handle logistics support, transportation mission, and postal operations. (Read the rest of the story here…)

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Finally the media reports on KBR’s recent LOGCAP IV windfall

FINALLY!! Something from the main stream media. KBR was notified of this LOGCAP IV award on the Feb26 0r 27th according to the date on the award letter.  Ms Sparky published the on the 27th. I know there was an earthquake on the same day and a tsunami in the Pacific threatening Hawaii and other coastlines. OK, I get that. But why didn’t the Army and KBR made an official announcement on Monday….or Tuesday? Am I too impatient? Below is the first main stream media article put out by the Associated Press!! Kudo’s to them.

Army Awards Lucrative Contract to KBR

Contractor under fire for faulty electrical work in Iraq awarded contract worth up to $2.8B
By KIMBERLY HEFLING and RICHARD LARDNER
WASHINGTON March 2, 2010 (AP)
The Associated Press

Military authorities say defense giant KBR Inc. has been awarded a contract potentially worth $2.8 billion for work in Iraq as U.S. forces continue to leave the country.

KBR was notified of the award Friday, a day after the company told shareholders it lost about $25 million in award fees because of flawed electrical work in Iraq. (Read the rest of the story here…)

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KBR awarded $2.3B LOGCAP IV task order in Iraq after poor performance evaluation (updated 02/28/2010)

This post has been updated since it was originally published. See below.

The long awaited announcement of the first LOGCAP IV task order to be awarded in Iraq has been made.

KBR has been awarded Task Order 2 under KBR’s LOGCAP IV contract W52P1J-07-D-0009 for the Iraq CTP effort in the amount of $2.345B.

Work is to begin under this Task Order on March 1, 2010.

Interesting…just four days ago KBR received a ZERO award fee for unsatisfactory work and is now awarded a $2.3B contract. Is anyone else gong “What the hell?” (Read the rest of the story here…)

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Army decision to deny millions in bonuses to KBR is “Right call, but only fist step”

American Chronicle – Congressional Desk
February 26, 2010

Former Task Force SAFE Electrical Subject Matter Expert James Childs testifies before the Senate Democratic Policy Committee about the shoddy electrical work performed by KBR. Cheryl Harris, SSG Ryan Maseth's mother, sheds a tear as she listens to why her son was electrocuted and died in his shower in Baghdad on January 2, 2008.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), who chaired Senate hearings on electrocutions of soldiers in Iraq resulting from shoddy contracting work by KBR, said Thursday the Army´s decision to deny million of dollars in bonuses to the firm for its 2008 work in Iraq “is the right call, but it is only a first step.”

Dorgan chaired two Senate Democratic Policy Committee (DPC) hearings in 2008 and 2009 on KBR´s shoddy electrical work in Iraq. The hearings revealed widespread problems with KBR´s electrical work there including countless electrical shocks including one that killed Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, and perhaps others, and injured dozens more on their own bases as they showered and engaged in other routine activities.

Following the hearings, Dorgan and Senator Robert Casey (D-PA) wrote the Army asking that it review KBR´s work and the electrocution death of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth. They also asked the Army to re-evaluate the millions of dollars in bonuses it has routinely awarded KBR for supposedly excellent work, even when the Army´s own evidence made clear it was highly questionable.

The Army´s investigation of Maseth´s January 2008 death found that KBR´s work exposed soldiers to “unacceptable risk.” A theatre-wide safety review that resulted from the Dorgan-Casey request — Task Force SAFE — also found widespread problems with KBR´s electrical work that exposed soldiers to life threatening risks. (Read the rest of the story here…)

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Law firms join forces to battle KBR on behalf of burn pit victims

For Immediate Release

Media Contact:
Erin Powers
+1 281.703.6000 – phone
edp@powersmediaworks.com

Law Firms Motley Rice LLC and Burke PLLC Join Forces to Take on KBR and Halliburton on
Behalf of American Soldiers, Veterans and Civilians Exposed to
Burn Pit Hazards

Suit Claims Wartime Contractors Halliburton and KBR Knew Dangers of Burn Pit Exposure

CHARLESTON, S.C. – (February 24, 2010) Motley Rice LLC, one of the nation’s largest plaintiffs’ litigation firms, announces today that it has joined forces with Burke PLLC to jointly pursue claims for clients in the KBR, Inc., Burn Pit multidistrict litigation. The MDL encompasses suits against defense contractors who allegedly jeopardized the health and safety of thousands of American veterans, current service members and former contract employees by knowingly burning vast quantities of hazardous waste in open- air burn pits on U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yesterday, the Honorable Roger W. Titus of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland provided the parties with briefing schedules and hearing dates, including one on the defendants’ motions to dismiss.

Named defendants include: KBR, Inc. of Houston (NYSE: KBR); Kellogg, Brown & Root LLC, of Austin, Texas; Kellogg, Brown & Root Services, Inc., of Houston, Texas; Turkish-based ERKA Ltd.; and Halliburton Company, of Houston, Texas. The collective claims against these defendants include those for battery, breach of contract, breach of duty to warn, future medical expenses, intentional infliction of emotional distress, medical monitoring, negligence and wrongful death.

“The U.S. government entered into a contract with and paid millions to defendants Halliburton and KBR to ensure that they implemented our country’s strict safety standards for waste disposal. We believe these contractors failed to hold up their end of the deal by ignoring these standards, and now thousands have been unnecessarily poisoned,” stated Motley Rice co-founder, Joe Rice. “Our soldiers and service members understood the potential risk of warfare but never expected the harm to come from those who were hired to protect them.” (Read the rest of the story here…)

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Judge dismisses Indiana soldiers’ Iraq suit

By Jon Murray – Posted: February 25, 2010
IndyStar.com

LTC James C. Gentry in Baghdad died of cancer in November 2009 after exposure to sodium dichromate at Qarmat Ali

A federal judge today dismissed a lawsuit accusing a large defense contractor of concealing the risks faced by nearly 140 Indiana National Guard soldiers potentially exposed to a cancer-causing agent in Iraq.

The ruling did not address any of the claims in the lawsuit, which could still be pursued elsewhere by the attorneys for the 47 Indiana Guard soldiers serving as plaintiffs. Chief Judge Richard L. Young ruled that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana lacks “personal jurisdiction” over Texas-based KBR and several related companies.
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The dismissal was based in part on a finding that the actions at issue in the suit took place outside Indiana even if the health effects are only being felt now. And the KBR companies’ limited contacts in Indiana — they have no offices here but have held contracts in Indiana — amount to an insufficient business footprint.

Mike Doyle, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, said the legal team plans to file a new version of the lawsuit in another jurisdiction as soon as possible, but he did not specify where. (Read the rest of the story here…)

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KBR adds another retired General to its ranks @ $650.00 an hour

Army tries to halt retired general’s work as KBR expert

By MARY FLOOD HOUSTON CHRONICLE – Feb. 25, 2010
The U.S. Army is trying to stop retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who once led U.S. forces in Iraq, from continuing to be an expert for KBR in a lawsuit against it over civilian truck driver deaths and injuries.

Sanchez is being paid $650 an hour and has reviewed documents and written a report that support’s KBR’s contention it should not be held legally responsible for the deaths of six civilian truck drivers and the injuries of others in a 2004 ambush in Iraq.

The suing drivers and family members contend that KBR should have stopped the convoys when it was warned that attacks would increase on April 9, 2004, the first anniversary of the day allies in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq reached Baghdad.

KBR argues that the military approved sending the convoys out and several laws protect KBR from responsibility in a wartime situation. The Army contracts with KBR to provide transportation, food services and other logistical support. (Read the rest of the story here…)

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KBR loses $25M in award fee bonuses for poor performance in Iraq (updated)

They didn’t just lose $25M….they got ZERO! This is a classic example of how one person can make a difference. I do believe KBR underestimated Cheryl Harris’ tenacity. I applaud you Cheryl!

Contractor linked to Iraq death loses $25M in fees

By KIMBERLY HEFLING
Associated Press Writer
Feb 24, 10:42 PM EST

Cheryl Harris with her son Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth. Ryan, 24, was electrocuted in his shower in Iraq on Jan. 2, 2008. Cheryl has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against KBR. That suit is currently sitting in the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals awaiting a decision.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Military contractor KBR has lost about $25 million in bonuses from the government because of “failed” worked done in Iraq during the time a Green Beret was electrocuted in a barracks shower it was responsible for maintaining.

The U.S. Army Sustainment Command said in a statement released to The Associated Press Wednesday night that the Houston-based company failed to meet a level deserving of an award fee payment for work it did during the first four months of 2008. Award fees are written into contracts as an incentive for the contractors to do quality work.

The Army statement did not specifically mention the January 2008 death of 24-year-old Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth of Pittsburgh in the statement but said a task force that has extensively reviewed electrical work in Iraq was consulted in making the decision as was the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, which investigated Maseth’s death, but did not press charges against KBR.

Dan Carlson, a spokesman for the Army Sustainment Command, said in an e-mail that “multiple factors” led to the decision. (Read the rest of the story here…)

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VA, DoD seek better data on burn-pit exposure

By Kelly Kennedy – Staff writer – Army Times
Posted : Wednesday Feb 24, 2010 9:43:08 EST

As Veterans Affairs Department officials laid out a plan for the Institute of Medicine to look for links between certain symptoms and burn-pit exposure, they also quizzed Defense Department scientists about what they’ve already done in that regard.

“We have a particular need to solve this as best as we can,” said Victoria Cassano, acting director of VA’s Environmental Agents Service. “You tell us what the science is. You tell us what the evidence is. Do we have enough to [move] forward with a presumption or not?”

At the first meeting of the IOM’s Committee on the Long-Term Health Consequences of Exposure to Burn Pits in Iraq and Afghanistan, Cassano asked the panel to help VA determine if the symptoms of several sick service members could be linked to exposure to smoke from open-air burn pits in the war zones. (Read the rest of the story here…)

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KBR threatens Army with reduced support in Iraq

Report finds Army broke contracting regulations in Iraq

Govexec.com – By Robert Brodsky - February 23, 2010

The Army broke federal procurement rules in 2004, when two commanding generals improperly directed a contracting officer to pay millions of dollars in fees to KBR Inc., according to a report released on Monday by the Defense Department inspector general.

Under the Federal Acquisition Regulation, the Army Sustainment Command should have withheld 15 percent of its payments to KBR under a cost-reimbursement task order through the massive Logistics Civil Augmentation Program III, because terms and price had not been finalized.

But when a contracting officer tried to withhold the funds, she was overruled by Army leaders who said KBR warned the move could hurt battlefield operations. (Read the rest of the story here…)

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Arkansas veteran warns servicemen about the danger of “burn pits” in Iraq

If you are having problems watching this video on MsSparky.com click HERE to watch at Channel 11. You can also read the transcript of the interview there as well.

Also, if you have a facebook account you have to check out the Burn Pits page run by Jill Wilkins. As you might recall, Jill is the widow of Major Kevin Wilkins who died of a brain tumor shortly after returning from Iraq. The burn victims could ask for no better champion for their cause!

Ms Sparky

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David Isenberg: Supporting the Troops: Making Them Sick

David IsenbergHuffington Post
Author, Shadow Force: Private Security Contractors in Iraq (Praeger Security International)
Posted: February 21, 2010 03:08 PM

The biggest portion of U.S. private military contractors has always been, by far, on the logistics, not the weapons bearing security side.

These contractors deliver fuel and supplies, construct bases, prepare meals at the DFAC (Dining Facility), clean laundry, provide interpreters, and a host of other unglamorous but vital jobs.

Most of the time they do it very well, under very difficult conditions. Many of their supporters herald this as an unprecedented achievement in American military history. Such a view has long been the sound bite for which Doug Brooks, head of the International Peace Operations Association, a leading industry trade group, is best known for, i.e., “We have the best supported, supplied military in any military operation in history.” Indeed, if you search online for Doug Brooks and that phrase you get 1,400,000 hits.

That is why this article in the Los Angeles Times earlier this week grabbed my attention. It described how numerous returning veterans have reported leukemia, lymphoma, congestive heart problems, neurological conditions, bronchitis, skin rashes and sleep disorders — all of which they attribute to burn pits on dozens of U.S. bases in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Items burned in the pits have included medical waste, plastics, computer parts, oil, lubricants, paint, tires and foam cups, according to soldiers and contractors. (Read the rest of the story here…)

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The KBR killing fields subsidized by US tax dollars

Why did Sgt. Thomas die?

By Matthew Hansen – Staff Writer
Omaha World Herald – February 21, 2010

Sgt. Klayton Thomas looked every bit the poster boy Marine as he strode into a military hospital last September to get his back checked.

He taught karate and earned his abs in the gym. He had survived a 2007 deployment to Iraq, even thrived during his prolonged stay in the middle of the then-treacherous Sunni Triangle. He rarely drank. He didn’t smoke. Life seemed perfect on this mid-September Thursday, if only his back would stop aching. The 25-year-old Columbus, Neb., native thought he had wrenched it playing soccer. Three months and 10 days later, he died in hospice care.

This much is known: Thomas succumbed to an unstoppable lung cancer that crushed his vertebrae, blitzed his bones and invaded his brain, dumbfounding doctors who had spent their entire careers treating the disease.

His death leaves a medical mystery, one similar to those posed by hundreds of other American military personnel battling exotic cancers or struggling with rare respiratory problems.
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This mystery begins in the unlikeliest of places: Iraqi “burn pits” — large, primitive landfills where contractors set trash aflame, causing ever-present black smoke to drift over dozens of U.S. military bases.

Health experts, a high-powered defense lawyer, Congress and even the president have taken notice, asking questions like Klayton Thomas’ parents and doctors asked in the weeks after he fell ill.

Why would an otherwise healthy young nonsmoker contract a cancer that generally haunts older smokers? Why did this cancer spread like wildfire when experts say its normal path can take years?

Simply put: Why did Sgt. Klayton Thomas die?

“We were scared to death when he went to Iraq, scared of a mortar attack, an IED,” said his mother, Connie Thomas of Columbus. “But nothing like this. Not in our wildest dreams.” (Read the rest of the story here…)

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Air Marshals take down former KBR employee Robert Wade Prince on flight to Houston (updated 2/20/2010)

Updated: 2/20/2010 see below for link to original complaint

The idiot in this article is Robert Wade Prince.

Defense contractor arrested on Houston flight after ‘international disturbance’
February 15, 9:44 PM

Robert Wade Prince (taken Sept 2009)

(Houston) — Police are calling it an ‘international incident’ in the sky on a flight that was headed for Houston on Sunday, and now a defense contractor is facing at least 2 federal charges.

Houston Police officers say they were called to the gate to meet the arriving flight from Amsterdam, and they found two Federal Air Marshals with a Texas man under arrest.

According to the incident report on file with HPD, the passenger is identified as an employee of Kellogg Brown & Root and he will appear before a federal magistrate this week to answer to charges of Assault on a Federal Officer and  Interference with a Flight Crew, both federal felonies.

Police who interviewed passengers from the flight say the passenger was horribly drunk when he started yelling and groping the female passenger in the seat next to him. (Read the rest of the story here…)

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