ORLANDO – A friend of the man accused of attempting to gain entry into an American Airlines jetliner told News 6 on Thursday that his friend would never harm anyone.
Nishal Sankat, 22, was booked at the Brevard County jail on several charges after Orlando Melbourne International Airport Police said that Sankat jumped a fence to gain access to the airport's runway, where the plane was parked. Investigators said maintenance workers were able to remove Sankat from the plane.
Aaron Ambrose said he went to school with Sankat in Trinidad and Tobago from 2007 to 2014.
"I saw Nishal's name and I'm like, Is he serious?" Ambrose said. "That's, like, a big plane. That's, like, a plane you use to fly back to Trinidad. That's crazy."
Ambrose said that, several years ago, Sankat announced that he was moving to Florida to become a pilot.
“Everybody knows Nishal is obsessed with planes. Name any plane, he’ll tell you a fact about it," Ambrose said. "Confused and disappointed because it's a big opportunity to go to school in the states. Not everybody in Trinidad has that opportunity."
Sankat's former roomate in Melbourne tells News 6 that he saw Sankat a few months ago and everything seemed normal.
Sankat's friends said that he would never intend to harm anyone.
"Never assumed anyone logical would do something like that," Ambrose said. "Nishal is not that type of person. He's like a comical kid, but he was always really smart because he was, like, obsessed with planes."
Sankat's friends said they worry for his future since his love for flying was his main passion in life.