By James Pilcher
The Cincinnati Enquirer

In the aftermath of an incident involving a Comair flight attendant accused of trying to crash a fully loaded flight three months ago, all employees with the Erlanger-based regional airline have undergone a rigorous background check.

And company officials say they have tightened procedures for checking the backgrounds of current and newly hired workers.

Turhan Jamar Lamons, 23, of Morrow, Ga., is accused of trying to crash a Comair flight in May, as well as threatening an flight at AirTran, where he previously worked, a week after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"Since this happened and we discovered that he was under indictment, we have undergone an intensive review of our background check and hiring procedures," Comair spokesman Nick Miller said.

He said the airline has reverified the backgrounds of all of its 5,500 employees to federal standards as well as tougher airline standards.

Comair, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, operates the most flights at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

Miller said all other employees were found to be in compliance with the company's new standards as well as federal regulations regarding the background of aviation workers.

Lamons was indicted last Thursday - accused of trying to "damage, disable and wreck" a May 8 Comair flight between Atlanta and Huntsville, Ala. That flight made an emergency landing in Rome, Ga., after its pilots smelled smoke.

Lamons is also accused of making a call Sept. 18, 2001, from an Atlanta-Hartsfield International Airport pay phone to an AirTran gate agent and saying "all passengers on Flight 278 are going to die," and hanging up.

Atlanta police say Lamons, then a first-year AirTran flight attendant, made that call because he did not want to work on his day off.

A Clayton County, Ga., magistrate dismissed the initial charges, and Lamons was then hired by Erlanger-based regional airline Comair in August 2002.

Lamons' attorney, Robert Mack of Jonesboro, Ga., did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Miller said the company was not aware of the original charges when it hired Lamons.

In April, Lamons was then indicted on the original 2001 charges in Clayton County.

Miller said the airline did not know about that development, either.

He added that Lamons left Comair following the May incident, but would not comment on why or how, saying the matter was "still part of a pending criminal matter."

E-mail jpilcher@enquirer.com