Gulfport man says he's cleared of 'no-fly' order, takes plane to leave Hawaii

GULFPORT -- A Gulfport man who said he was stranded in Hawaii for six days over a perplexing "no-fly order" flew in to San Francisco late Friday afternoon after learning he had been cleared to board an airplane.

Wade E. Hicks Jr., 34, said no one has explained why he was suddenly placed on the government's no-fly list Sunday while he was en route to Japan. The newlywed of eight months had been stuck in Hawaii six days since learning he wasn't allowed to finish a flight to see his wife, a Navy lieutenant stationed in Okinawa.

Nor has anyone explained how his name was taken off the list, Hicks said.

Hicks had driven to Travis Air Force Base in San Francisco last week and boarded a flight as a military dependent on stand-by. The plane landed on the island of Oahu at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, for a cleaning and refueling layover. Hicks said U.S. Customs and Enforcement agent approached him and said Hicks was on the no-fly list and he could not leave Hawaii on a commercial or military airplane.

Hicks was stuck in Hawaii at his own expense.

Something changed after Hicks went public with his story and contacted his congressmen. His story made international headlines.

Hicks said he still wants to know what happened and why, and he wants to recoup his expenses from the government. He has filed requests under the Freedom of Information Act for answers from the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.

"They have not apologized nor given me any reason," Hicks said.

Hicks told the Sun Herald on Friday morning he was cleared to fly and was on stand-by for a flight to the air base in San Francisco, near where his wife's family lives. His wife was expected to fly in to see him over the weekend.

After his plane touched down about 5:37 p.m., he alerted the Sun Herald, and said he felt "great."

Hicks, a former volunteer firefighter in Hancock County, suspects he was placed on the list because of his outspoken views.

Hicks has worked for a military contractor and said he has had high-level security clearances for work on surveillance vessels. He said he has an enhanced permit to carry a concealed weapon and had cleared an FBI background check on the firearm permit last month.

Representatives for U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker and U.S. Rep Steven Palazzo said the congressmen had been in contact with Hicks and federal authorities. Both said the congressmen had done everything they could to respond to Hicks' concerns, but they could not comment on a constituent's private matters.

A TSA spokeswoman referred the Sun Herald to the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center, where a spokesman said he could neither confirm nor deny Hicks was on the no-fly list. The spokesman said about 500 Americans are on the list, which is reserved for persons suspected of having ties to terrorism or of using air travel to an area to commit a terrorist act.

Several years ago, Hicks started a radio show called "The Free Speech Zone." He is an assistant engineer for WQRZ Radio in Bay St. Louis and occasionally appears on a similar talk show, station manager Brice Phillips said.

"He must have ruffled somebody's feathers," Phillips said. "He is not a terrorist."

http://www.sunherald.com