Report: Pilot Wouldn't Fly Diplomat

AP | 8/11/02

[kattracks]

CINCINNATI, Aug 11, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- A pilot for a Delta Air Lines subsidiary would not fly Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Melchior from Cincinnati because the pilot thought Melchior posed a security risk, an Israeli radio station reported Sunday.

Melchior, who was being escorted by State Department officials at the time, told Israel Radio that he waited on a plane for more than an hour before the pilot evacuated it, saying there was a security risk.

When Melchior disembarked, he said he was told he was not allowed to get back on the plane.

"The security officials and the company all put pressure on him, and there were negotiations," Melchior told the station. "But the pilot is sovereign on his aircraft, and he is empowered to make such a decision, and he did it in spite of all the pressure from the company and security officials."

He said he flew out on another Delta plane about a half-hour later.

The Israeli embassy in Washington had taken the matter up with the State Department, Melchior said.

This is the third time an Israeli official has been pulled from a flight because of a pilot's sense of a security risk, the radio station reported. The others reportedly were Alon Pinkas, the Israeli consul general in New York, and a bodyguard of Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.

"This singling out of Israeli diplomats ... and removing them from a plane in such a manner, and the very fact that we are Israelis (is deemed) to pose a security risk, is intolerable," Melchior said.

Atlanta-based Delta, which has a hub in Cincinnati, is the nation's third-biggest carrier. A message seeking comment was left early Sunday morning at the Delta corporate communications office.

Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved

[kattracks]

I wonder what the pilot's ethnic backround is.

[habaes corpussel]

"A pilot for a Delta Air Lines subsidiary would not fly Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Melchior from Cincinnati because the pilot thought Melchior posed a security risk, an Israeli radio station reported Sunday."

This is really bright! We are all losing our minds over 911. While pilots like this are just making things worse and these guy's want to be armed?

[Catspaw]

I don't know what the pilot's ethnic background is, but I'll certainly boycott Delta.

[mo]

while I may not agree with the particulars of the decision...I am glad to see Delta apparently supporting the process. I have a friend, a US Air pilot..he always tells me "I have three children to come home to as well..."

[Dick Vomer]

Uhhhh..... does he ask all Arab males between the ages of 16-65 to get off the plane...."for security reasons?" or does he make sure that no "Arab-looking" men between the ages of 16-65 don't refuel, do maintainance, restock food, clean, pack luggage, or work on the tarmac..... The pilot is a dumbass who needs to go have a few more drinks at the lounge.

[twntaipan]

After the shootout at LAX in which it was an El Al security guard who took out the Arab gunman, one would think Israeli diplomats (and their security guys) would be a welcomed passenger.

Imagine the liberal furor if this had been an Arab diplomat. Where is the liberal rage on this?

[Brytani]

Well isn't this priceless, strip-search Grandmothers, arrest 80yr olds for getting irritated and making a comment, forcing mothers with newborns to drink breast milk to prove it's not some sort of secret white American bomb destined to blow up a plane. Yet, it's illegal to profile the very people who flew planes into the WTC, Pentagon and PN.

Yea, this makes me feel so much safer.

[GeauxMan]

First, I work in aviation security and am very familiar with the mindset that most airline pilots have about the safety of their aircraft and passengers.

This story doesn’t give enough information to know what happened but my guess would be that someone in that party (one of the Israelis or one of the State Dept people (diplo-wienies or Diplomatic Security Service) said something very stupid and the Pilot-in-Command made a command decision and stuck by it.- Good for him or her!

As the Israeli diplomat said the Pilot-in-Command of an airliner is “sovereign in his/her aircraft”. In these days ware no one takes responsibility for their actions, airline pilots do.

[Lloyd227]

"I don't know what the pilot's ethnic background is, but I'll certainly boycott Delta."

- "But the pilot is sovereign on his aircraft, and he is empowered to make such a decision, and he did it in spite of all the pressure from the company and security officials."

Why would you or anyone else blame Delta for this particular incident?

Should the pilot's sovereignty of his aircraft be revoked? or should we simply fire this pilot for abusing that sovereignty? (and wouldn't that action in itself effectively destroy that sovereignty for other pilots who may have a legitmate concern for the security of their aircraft?)

These are tough times we live in and answers are seldom as simple as saying "...but I'll certainly boycott Delta."

[Catspaw]

Imagine if this pilot had barred a person of Arab descent, especially a Palestinian diplomat--the airline would be sued so fast its head would spin.

The pilot has the right to bar anyone he wants from the airline. As a citizen, I can exercise my right to boycott any business that exercises stupidity.

[bok]

I've noticed some on here put the united states a little lower than a foreign country.

[Lloyd227]

Sorry, but I still don't understand why you would blame this on the company. Delta seems to have attempted to apply pressure on the pilot and convince him to change his mind. This was the pilot's decision and the company management seems to have disagreed with that pilot's decision.

While we all certainly have the right to boycott companies who act stupidly, I'm just thinking we should know more about this story before going off half cocked and blaming things on Delta.

Also, as far as the response in the media, this incident is being picked up by USA Today and byABC News at least so while I also believe it might have gotten a bit more attention had this person been of Arab descent, it's not as if the liberal media is completely ignoring the incident.

I wonder sometimes if we're not being just a little too sensitive to any potential slight of an Israeli. From what I see of this particular incident, the pilot felt that the diplomat posed a security risk and the pilot took action to protect his plane & passengers from that perceived risk.

[Lloyd227]

"I've noticed some on here put the united states a little lower than a foreign country."

Please explain, I'm a little sleepy this morning and not quite sure what the point is in your posting.

[YOMO]

Excuse the hell out oof me.
Where were the valued "airport Security Screeners", who find all weapons, search all passengers, and protect Truth, justice, and the American way. Even if the pilot wasen't comfortable I am. (Grin).

[Lloyd227]

"I've noticed some on here put the united states a little lower than a foreign country."

ah!! you meant that some on this thread seem to consider Israel to be more important and more sovereign than the United States? :-)

I wouldn't disagree. You may be right.

[harpu]

"While pilots like this are just making things worse and these guy's want to be armed?" AMEN. Could not have said it better my caustic self!

[Oldeconomybuyer]

REMINDER:  This Sunday on C-SPAN

August 11 

Ann Coulter, Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right • the Program • Discuss | Review the Book • Watch Sunday on C-SPAN   at 8pm/11pm ET

[Catspaw]

I wonder sometimes if we're not being just a little too sensitive to any potential slight of an Israeli. From what I see of this particular incident, the pilot felt that the diplomat posed a security risk and the pilot took action to protect his plane & passengers from that perceived risk.

What was the security risk?

Refresh my memory--was it Arabs or Israelis who boarded four passenger jets, and armed only with boxcutters, hijacked these planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and into the ground in Pennsylvania on 9/11?

[robertpaulsen]

"Refresh my memory--was it Arabs or Israelis who boarded four passenger jets, and armed only with boxcutters, hijacked these planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and into the ground in Pennsylvania on 9/11?"

The same people who will stop at nothing to assassinate Iraeli cabinet members.

[Catspaw]

So Israelis should be barred from flying commercial aircraft, not potential terrorists?