Muslim passengers removed from DC flight

[MariaBonita 11]

I think is silly they got kicked off the plane over what they said.

'Safety' Remark Gets Muslim Family Kicked Off Plane

WASHINGTON — A Muslim family removed from a plane Thursday after passengers became concerned about their conversation about the "safest" place to sit says AirTran officials refused to re-book them, even after FBI investigators cleared them of wrongdoing.

All eight members of the Irfan family from Alexandria, Va., and a friend were kicked off an Orlando-bound AirTran Airways flight after two other passengers overheard what they thought was a suspicious remark.

An unnamed source told MyFOXDC.com that they overheard one member of the family talking about the safest place to sit on a plane if a bomb was on board, though the family denied the word "bomb" was ever used.

"We're very careful about what we even say on the plane," Atif Irfan, who was kicked off the flight, told MyFOXDC.com. "Even if we were to say that's the bomb, we wouldn't even say that on the plane because we know to avoid certain buzz words, and we're very careful about this kind of stuff so, I don't know where they would have thought this whole incident even started from, quite frankly, what words we used."

Kashif Irfan told the Washington Post that other fliers heard them discussing the safest place to sit and misunderstood the nature of the conversation.

"My brother and his wife were discussing some aspect of airport security," Kashif Irfan told the Washington Post. "The only thing my brother said was, 'Wow, the jets are right next to my window.' I think they were remarking about safety."

Kashif Irfan, 34, is an anesthesiologist and his brother is a lawyer. Both live in Alexandria, Va., with their families, and were born in Detroit. They were traveling with their wives, Irfan's sister-in-law and Irfan's three sons, ages 7, 4 and 2. A family friend also was traveling with the group to a religious retreat in Florida.

Federal officials ordered the rest of the passengers from the plane and re-screened them before allowing the flight to depart.

The family was upset that AirTran didn't allow the Muslim passengers to book another flight. They eventually made it to their destination on a US Airways flight.

"The FBI agents actually cleared our names," Inayet Sahin, one of the family members kicked off the flight, told a cable news network. "They went on our behalf and spoke to the airlines and said, 'There is no suspicious activity here. They are clear. Please let them get on a flight so they can go on their vacation,' and they still refused."

Hutcheson said the passengers were given a full refund and are welcome to fly on AirTran now that the investigation is complete.

Hutcheson and a federal Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman said the pilot was right to postpone the flight.

"At the end of the day, people got on and made comments they shouldn't have made on the airplane, and other people heard them," Hutcheson said. "Other people heard them, misconstrued them. It just so happened these people were of Muslim faith and appearance. It escalated, it got out of hand and everyone took precautions."

One of the passengers removed, Abdur Razack Aziz, said he will consider a lawsuit.

[Caladan 19]

Racial profiling - statistically correct but wrong wrong wrong!

From the article it didn't seem like it was initiated by the airline, but by pearl-clutching passengers. But what sucks is from there there wasn't any way anyone could say, ma'am, use common sense, you're overreacting; the FBI (who by the guy's account was very professional) had to be involved because of protocol, and they couldn't be rebooked on the airline because of protocol, etc.

[AlHayatZween 2]

Infants, children, and teenagers aren't my worst fear of flying. My worst fear is that they'll try again to have IN-FlIGHT CELLULAR PHONE USE.

Yep, some airlines have tested offering cell service in-flight. Could you imagine sitting next to someone with one of those "push-to-talk" phones?

Now imagine that there's two teenagers on the plane with them...and one of them is sitting next to you.

i hear that, i can deal with babies crying any day... but somebody yackin' on their cell phone for hours upon hours...

[Big Papa Zone 93]

Infants, children, and teenagers aren't my worst fear of flying. My worst fear is that they'll try again to have IN-FlIGHT CELLULAR PHONE USE.

Yep, some airlines have tested offering cell service in-flight. Could you imagine sitting next to someone with one of those "push-to-talk" phones?

Now imagine that there's two teenagers on the plane with them...and one of them is sitting next to you.

i hear that, i can deal with babies crying any day... but somebody yackin' on their cell phone for hours upon hours...

So the eardrum-piercing scream of babies is tolerable, but an adult voice talking on a cell phone is not? Interesting. Bizzarre, even.

Oh btw, as far as I'm aware cell phones #### with a plane's systems, so I'm dead against their use.

[Amby 490]

I've only ever had to deal with a screaming baby a few times and I got annoyed and I asked to be moved each time. The only time I didn't get pissed off is when this lady had to get on the plane without her husband and with her 5 children. They hand just spent 6 months in Africa doing missionary work, they had slept in the airport for 3 days due to bad weather, and then the dad couldn't get on the flight because he had all of their luggage with him and there was no time to check it. The mom was in tears half the flight because she was so upset she couldn't get the baby to stop crying and they were sending them to DC when they lived in Los Angeles.

[Big Papa Zone 93]

I've only ever had to deal with a screaming baby a few times and I got annoyed and I asked to be moved each time. The only time I didn't get pissed off is when this lady had to get on the plane without her husband and with her 5 children. They hand just spent 6 months in Africa doing missionary work, they had slept in the airport for 3 days due to bad weather, and then the dad couldn't get on the flight because he had all of their luggage with him and there was no time to check it. The mom was in tears half the flight because she was so upset she couldn't get the baby to stop crying and they were sending them to DC when they lived in Los Angeles.

Meh...........baggage hold......

...

[Ling Ling 22]

Infants, children, and teenagers aren't my worst fear of flying. My worst fear is that they'll try again to have IN-FlIGHT CELLULAR PHONE USE.

Yep, some airlines have tested offering cell service in-flight. Could you imagine sitting next to someone with one of those "push-to-talk" phones?

Now imagine that there's two teenagers on the plane with them...and one of them is sitting next to you.

i hear that, i can deal with babies crying any day... but somebody yackin' on their cell phone for hours upon hours...

So the eardrum-piercing scream of babies is tolerable, but an adult voice talking on a cell phone is not? Interesting. Bizzarre, even.

Oh btw, as far as I'm aware cell phones #### with a plane's systems, so I'm dead against their use.

Eh, I can understand it. A baby crying is natural...and eventually they'll stop. But people yackin' on cellphones....

As for cellphones playing havoc with a plane's system....pretty much ANY RF signal (including CD players) can have an adverse effect,

but the systems can also be engineered to ignore them. So don't worry, if you accidentally leave your CD player or phone on during a flight,

you're not going to take the plane down.

[Amby 490]

tis why I luvz ya dp

[Dakine 26]

If you have a friend or relative named Jack don't say hi to him when you greet him at the airport or on the plane!!

[Big Papa Zone 93]

Eh, I can understand it. A baby crying is natural...and eventually they'll stop. But people yackin' on cellphones....

.................will eventually stop.

As for cellphones playing havoc with a plane's system....pretty much ANY RF signal (including CD players) can have an adverse effect,

but the systems can also be engineered to ignore them.

Oh, I see. It's just that I wondered why certain "approved electronic devices" (such as the CD player you mention) are allowed to be used once the plane reaches a certain altitude, whilst the use of cell phones is strictly prohibited at any time. Still, I'm sure you've got all the answers, Ling Ling.

So don't worry, if you accidentally leave your CD player or phone on during a flight,

you're not going to take the plane down.

Thanks. That's very reassuring.

[Ban Hammer 13,355]

If you have a friend or relative named Jack don't say hi to him when you greet him at the airport or on the plane!!

[Amby 490]

If you have a friend or relative named Jack don't say hi to him when you greet him at the airport or on the plane!!

you know whats sad? it took me a second to laugh at this

[mawilson 2,133]

If you have a friend or relative named Jack don't say hi to him when you greet him at the airport or on the plane!!

Unless his name is Jack Bauer, then it's ok

[Big Papa Zone 93]

If you have a friend or relative named Jack don't say hi to him when you greet him at the airport or on the plane!!

Unless his name is Jack Bauer, then it's ok

Oi, empty your inbox - I wanna talk vino!

[Waldo 0]

profiling

It is unfortunately. I can however vouch for TSA security's effectiveness . Yep your an old Nun in a wheelchair you better watch your step!

Edited January 2, 2009 by Waldo