(WSVN) - A former airline mechanic pleaded not guilty to sabotaging a flight at Miami International Airport.

The suspect, 60-year-old Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani, appeared in federal court, Friday.

Alani was charged with deliberately disabling a key navigation component on an American Airlines flight in July.

He told investigators he was upset about an ongoing labor dispute that was denying him overtime work.

Prosecutors think he may have ties to terrorism.

They said that he lied about a trip to Iraq to visit his brother, who is a member of ISIS.

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