PHILADELPHIA - Federal officials are defending the response of a federal air marshal who held his gun on a passenger-filled cabin for 30 minutes after detaining a man on the flight. <br>
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Several passengers on Saturday's Delta flight from Atlanta to Philadelphia say they were terrified by the weapons and hadn't noticed any disturbance. <br>
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Transportation Security Administration officials say the detained man had been rummaging through other people's luggage. <br>
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TSA spokesman Robert Johnson says the marshals on Delta Flight 442 acted ``by the book.'' <br>
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The FBI says the man was released after the flight, when federal prosecutors decided not to press charges. <br>
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Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge James Lineberger says he thought a gun battle would erupt in the skies, as he sat watching the marshal aim a gun at the coach cabin. <br>
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He plans to lodge a complaint with the federal agency -- which oversees the nation's sky marshals -- Tuesday.