Posted on 08/19/2006 4:54:48 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
British holidaymakers staged an unprecedented mutiny - refusing to allow their flight to take off until two men they feared were terrorists were forcibly removed.
The extraordinary scenes happened after some of the 150 passengers on a Malaga-Manchester flight overheard two men of Asian appearance apparently talking Arabic.
Passengers told cabin crew they feared for their safety and demanded police action. Some stormed off the Monarch Airlines Airbus A320 minutes before it was due to leave the Costa del Sol at 3am. Others waiting for Flight ZB 613 in the departure lounge refused to board it.
The incident fuels the row over airport security following the arrest of more than 20 people allegedly planning the suicide-bombing of transatlantic jets from the UK to America. It comes amid growing demands for passenger-profiling and selective security checks.
It also raised fears that more travellers will take the law into their own hands - effectively conducting their own 'passenger profiles'.
The passenger revolt came as Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary was accused of using the terror crisis to make money. Government sources say he boasted to an official at the Transport Department: "Every time I appear on TV, I get a spike in sales."
The Tories said the Government's failure to reassure travellers had led the Malaga passengers to 'behave irrationally' and 'hand a victory to terrorists'.
Websites used by pilots and cabin crew were yesterday reporting further incidents. In one, two British women with young children on another flight from Spain complained about flying with a bearded Muslim even though he had been security-checked twice before boarding.
The trouble in Malaga flared last Wednesday as two British citizens in their 20s waited in the departure lounge to board the pre-dawn flight and were heard talking what passengers took to be Arabic. Worries spread after a female passenger said she had heard something that alarmed her.
Passengers noticed that, despite the heat, the pair were wearing leather jackets and thick jumpers and were regularly checking their watches.
Initially, six passengers refused to board the flight. On board the aircraft, word reached one family. To the astonishment of cabin crew, they stood up and walked off, followed quickly by others.
The Monarch pilot - a highly experienced captain - accompanied by armed Civil Guard police and airport security staff, approached the two men and took their passports.
Half an hour later, police returned and escorted the two Asian passengers off the jet.
'There was no fuss or panic'
Soon afterwards, the aircraft was cleared while police did a thorough security sweep. Nothing was found and the plane took off - three hours late and without the two men on board.
Monarch arranged for them to spend the rest of the night in an airport hotel and flew them back to Manchester later on Wednesday.
College lecturer Jo Schofield, her husband Heath and daughters Emily, 15, and Isabel, 12, were caught up in the passenger mutiny.
Mrs Schofield, 38, said: "The plane was not yet full and it became apparent that people were refusing to board. In the gate waiting area, people had been talking about these two, who looked really suspicious with their heavy clothing, scruffy, rough, appearance and long hair.
"Some of the older children, who had seen the terror alert on television, were starting to mutter things like, 'Those two look like they're bombers.'
"Then a family stood up and walked off the aircraft. They were joined by others, about eight in all. We learned later that six or seven people had refused to get on the plane.
"There was no fuss or panic. People just calmly and quietly got off the plane. There were no racist taunts or any remarks directed at the men.
"It was an eerie scene, very quiet. The children were starting to ask what was going on. We tried to play it down."
Mr Schofield, 40, an area sales manager, said: "When the men were taken off they didn't argue or say a word. They just picked up their coats and obeyed the police. They seemed resigned to the fact they were under suspicion.
"The captain and crew were very apologetic when we were asked to evacuate the plane for the security search. But there was no dissent.
"While we were waiting, everyone agreed the men looked dodgy. Some passengers were very panicky and in tears. There was a lot of talking about terrorists."
Patrick Mercer, the Tory Homeland Security spokesman, said last night: "This is a victory for terrorists. These people on the flight have been terrorised into behaving irrationally.
"For those unfortunate two men to be victimised because of the colour of their skin is just nonsense."
Monarch said last night: "The captain was concerned about the security surrounding the two gentlemen on the aircraft and the decision was taken to remove them from the flight for further security checks.
"The two passengers offloaded from the flight were later cleared by airport security and rebooked to travel back to Manchester on a later flight."
A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Malaga said: "These men had aroused suspicion because of their appearance and the fact that they were speaking in a foreign language thought to be an Arabic language, and the pilot was refusing to take off until they were escorted off the plane."
Ok, then when you board with them and your are the ONLY person onboard and then they stlit your throat and land the plane on top of your childrens elementry school you can then feel that the others over-reacted and got off the plane. You were not there so your either blind or in denial.
What is "in order" is my conscience. That is all that counts.
I had spent a long, hot (heatwave) week and was tired, not thinking, and wanting to get on the plane.
I wasn't impressed with Oakland's airport either....
..I should have remembered where I was...
...that's the only excuse I have.
"Maybe we should make everyone eat a pork chop before boarding?"
LOL, that's what i was thinking.
Good! : )
You might find the last line of the lead article on this thread interesting.
As in the city these two lads were headed to...and where this inflamatory
Islamic was going to speak.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1686661/posts?page=1
I'm sick of the idea that we have to bear the burden for their horrible evil behavior. I think we've got to make it a seriously negative event for Muslims to engage in terrorist attacks - that is, the only thing that will stop it, unfortunately, is if the entire Muslim group is punished. Not by mob violence, but by internment or other restriction. Then I think they will police themselves - including their non-ethnic Muslim converts - and not do these things with the impunity they now enjoy.
Go through San Francisco or San Jose next time. Avoid Oakland.
That's right. They've interpreted our tolerance for them as a weakness.
They're in for a big surprise, and they only need to look at Japan and Germany to see what happens when we get fed up. We firebombed whole cities, burning tens of thousands to dust.
They're next..
What about India?
Yep, I've noticed the same trend the last few weeks to use "Asian" in place of "Middle Eastern" or "Arab." The MSM is now trying to associate muzzies with Japanese and Chinese. Somehow, the simultaneous word went out to all the MSM. I wonder how they do that. It's like the time a few years ago when Qatar was no longer pronounced Ka-tar' but Cutter.
Replace the R with a D, the E with an I, and rearrange the letters in TORIE and you get IDIOT.
Ya mean like passengers that follow the commandments of their gawd to murder, in order to get into heaven and have sex?
Banish the Karanus!!!!
What is classically known as "suspicious looking characters." The policy should be: the airline should know who is getting aboard their airplanes. The means are readily available, IF the Government would use them.
If the govt. doesn't start profiling, the people will do it for them. If the govt. doesn't do its job, the people will start taking matters into their own hands. One time flying El Al, I was searched repeatedly and questioned several times, as my mother is Egyptian national. I didn't complain, I didn't feel victimized, I was just glad to know that they weren't gonna let any BS get by.
Somebody this week suggested that everybody has to "Pet the airplane pig" before boarding. But that isn't fair to Jews.
How about scheduling all planes to depart at prayer time? Anybody prostrating themselves toward Meccan is denied boarding.
How do you accomplish that?
What a clever chap you are! LOL.
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