the u.s. airs to veteran is now in custody after being accused of trying to join isis. he was arrested after traveling to turkey where he was trying to slip into syria undetected. reporter: a u.s. air force veteran from new jersey stopped in turkey for allegedly trying to join isis in syria, according to unsealed court documents. he flew from egypt to turkey to attempt to enter syria january 10th according to authorities. but officials stopped him at the airport. pugh who served four years as an air force mechanic was carrying an ipod and cell phone. a search of his laptop found information on borders controlled by islamic state and a chart of crossing points between turkey and syria.
he was denied entry into syria. he worked on airplane maintenance for years, in the air force from 1986 to 1990 he received training in the maintenance of weapons systems and aircraft maintenance. he then worked as a mechanic for american arables. american airlines. he would have had access to private american and european made aircraft and he could have learned the security weak points on those aircraft where he could stash weapons and bombs, how to get past security. reporter: he landed on the fbi s radar more than a decade ago. according to the complaint pugh converted to islam and become more radical during that time. thanks to pamela brown for that report.