Police: Hijack suspect to be charged

Kerim Chatty is being held in Sweden after authorities said they found a gun in his baggage as he tried to board a flight to London.

VASTERAS, Sweden (CNN) -- A man taken into custody after trying to board a jetliner in Sweden with a concealed weapon will be charged on Monday, police say.

Police said Kerim Chatty, 29, could be charged with attempted hijacking and illegal possession of a firearm but added that no final decision on the specific charges had been made.

The Tunisian-born Swede was detained Thursday in Vasteras, west of Stockholm, after airport authorities found a handgun in his carry-on baggage, police said. (Full story)

Chatty was trying to board Flight FR685 for London on the Irish discount carrier Ryanair.

Some of the 164 passengers on the Boeing 737-800 were planning to attend an Islamic conference in Birmingham, England. Ryanair said the plane landed in London without further problems.

Chatty's attorney, Nils Uggla, said his client has an explanation but added: "I am forbidden to tell the press."

If convicted of attempted hijacking, Chatty could face a sentence of four years to life in prison.

Suspect attended U.S. flight school

In September 1996, Chatty traveled to the United States to attend the North American Institute of Aviation in Conway, South Carolina, near Myrtle Beach, said Bob Sunday, the school's executive vice president.

Chatty enrolled in classes to learn to fly aircraft that weigh less than 12,500 pounds, such as Cessnas or Pipers, Sunday said. But he was apparently not a good student.

"After nearly seven months in the program, he did not have a pilot's license," Sunday said. "Most students get a license in 30 to 45 days."

Because of his lack of progress, the school expelled Chatty, Sunday said. His visa required he depart the country within 30 days of leaving school.

Sunday said he wasn't sure whether the school received a document proving Chatty complied with that rule. But he added that the school would have contacted authorities if it had not received notification.

Administrators look into students' sources of funding and know their whereabouts during the time they are in the country, Sunday said.

"Would a terrorist want to be interviewed and tracked and go under scrutiny?" he asked. "That wouldn't happen; they would not pick a school like ours."

Flight school officials said they spoke Saturday with investigators from the FBI's field office in Columbia, South Carolina. The FBI had no comment.

"The investigation is in the hands of the Swedish authorities," said Keith Peterson, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Sweden.

Several of the 19 hijackers involved in the September 11 terrorist attacks attended flight schools in the United States.

-- CNN Correspondent Diana Muriel contributed to this report.