So here's my air marshal story: I was on an express flight sitting next to this southern dude who kept eyeing me suspiciously ( I have a beard and kinda have dark skin.) I happened to be watching a video of the Rebbe on an ipod classic (it was 5 years ago, don't judge me) plus I had a leather bound chitas with a silver crown on it which can be easily mistaken for a Koran. The flight was uneventful. A few days later I get a call on my home phone from the FBI. The agent tells me: we know this is probaly nothing, but we have to follow up with every lead.
"Were you on flight #### from IAD - ***" I answered "Yes" he said "well, there was a gentleman sitting next to you that was quite concerned you were communicating with jihadists on your ipod and kept your koran in your hand as if you were about to do something bad. Once again we know this is probably nothing, but we would like to meet you just to cross it off our list."
We scheduled a meeting at the Chabad center where I live, and an FBI agent with an Air Marshal showed up took a look at my ipod and chitas, cracked a few jokes and we gave them a tour of the Chabad center and got some great security tips. The air marshal then asked if I can come to one of their main training centers which happens to be in the city to demonstrate the Jewish customs and rituals (tallis tefillin, minyan etc.) So over a three week period, I gave about 15 lectures to groups of air marshals.
I also heard some embarrassing horror stories unfortunately about our own kind like the guy who was on a 45 min flight and was davening shmoneh esreh for 40 min and ignored the flight attendant who asked him to be seated for landing. The plane couldn't land and was delayed an extra 20 min. The air marshal said he couldn't intervene as it wasn't considered a threat....