9 Muslim Passengers Removed From Jet (Others on Flight Say a Remark Was 'Suspicious')

washingtonpost.com ^ | January 2, 2009 | Amy Gardner

[Free ThinkerNY]

Officials ordered nine Muslim passengers, including three young children, off an AirTran flight headed to Orlando from Reagan National Airport yesterday afternoon after two other passengers overheard what they thought was a suspicious remark.

Members of the party, all but one of them U.S.-born citizens who were headed to a religious retreat in Florida, were subsequently cleared for travel by FBI agents who characterized the incident as a misunderstanding, an airport official said. But the passengers said AirTran refused to rebook them, and they had to pay for seats on another carrier secured with help from the FBI.

Kashif Irfan, one of the removed passengers, said the incident began about 1 p.m. after his brother, Atif, and his brother's wife wondered aloud about the safest place to sit on an airplane.

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

Irfan said he and the others think they were profiled because of their appearance.

[kittykat77]

LOL. Here's mine in one word, no numbers: AMTRAK.

I love AMTRAK and I frequently take the long haul trip virtually all the way down the East Coast to Orlando. You have to produce a certain level of photo identification when you board, but other than that, that's it. The train is incredibly slow and almost never meets its scheduled arrival and departure times. That's why I love it. It's the perfect way to travel if you don't mind getting there eventually.

[Polynikes]

Its probably the grass. Manicured very green lawns most likely have high concentrations of nitrate based fertilizers on the grass

[Allegra]

Irfan said he and the others think they were profiled because of their appearance.

And I see no problem with that.

Try flying through Middle Eastern airports if you don't like profiling, Ahmed.

The screeners at airports in the Middle East blatantly profile their own. They'll do the routine security checks on Americans, but its Middle Eastern guys who tend to be stopped and thoroughly siearched.

[Rannug]

Any way to fvck with the musslums works for me. And as someone else said, STFU CAIR. Tell it to muHAMmud.

[guns_for_liberty]

“Legal action will begin next week.”

Not much chance of winning. American juries are not too high on Muslims right now.

[Cindy]

ping

[Cindy]

Off Topic, but interesting.

There is no specific url for the following info which is on the front page of TSA.GOV:

http://www.tsa.gov

QUOTE:

TSA Week At A Glance (December 22, 2008 - December 28, 2008)

13 passengers were arrested due to suspicious behavior or fraudulent travel documents
20 firearms found at checkpoints
1 artfully concealed prohibited items found at checkpoints
16 incidents that involved a checkpoint closure, terminal evacuation or sterile area breach

[Cindy]

stepping back in time...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1741897/posts

“FOX ALERT: Passengers Taken Off Plane at MSP (Minnesota - Flying Imams, 2006)”
FOX 9 NEWS ^ | 11/20/06 | FOX 9 NEWS
Posted on November 20, 2006 7:06:49 PM PST by ButThreeLeftsDo

[Cindy]

ARTICLE SNIPPET from the link in post no. 1:

"Hutcheson confirmed that it was ultimately the pilot's decision to postpone the flight. But he said the pilot was influenced not only by the complaints from passengers but by the actions of two federal air marshals on board, who had learned of the incident and reported it to airport police."

[101voodoo]

The pilot is the very last word on who may and may not fly with him. If he says they go, they go and as far as I know there is no recource except perhaps from the airline to the pilot.

[Cindy]

Thank you 101voodoo for confirming that.

[x_plus_one]

These boobs are USA born and bred and are still unaculturated and obtuse....The melting pot is dead.

In Obamanation - we will all get along and shoe bombers will have a heyday....

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Merci, Cindy.....

[Cindy]

De nada.

[No Surrender No Retreat]

The FBI translated = “Federal Brainless Idiots.” I will include Ivy League Cops, who possess little, if any investigative traditional wisdom. (Common Sense)

[muawiyah]

There’s always a lot of fertilizer spread around to help the grass grow ~ lot of foot traffic in and out of those places so the plants need help.

[PapaBear3625]

I think they are encouraged to “act suspicious” to create “false alarm” incidents. After enough lawsuits and bad press, it will be easy for a terror team to get on a plane without being checked.

[jersey117]

BTTT

[labette]

:) I see! {saith the blind man}

[ElayneJ]

But now they can haul out the lawyers...it’s just a matter of time. And how long before our justice system is so overwhelmed it can’t function. If it’s not by design it might as well be - the effect will be the same.