Muslims kicked off plane
I was going to title this post “Snakes on a Plane,” but no one saw that movie so I decided against that.
You know this story. Two families are getting on a plane and discussing where the safest place to sit might be. They are overheard and reported to authorities. They are Muslim. They are summarily taken off the plane and interviewed by the FBI The FBI deems them safe, but AirTran will not let them back on the airplane. As a matter of fact, AirTran refuses to let them take any plane, anywhere.
So, we have the rights of an airline pitted against the rights of these American citizens.
From CNN: AirTran Airways apologized Friday to members of a Muslim family for kicking them off a plane and refusing to rebook them despite requests from FBI agents who had cleared them of wrongdoing.
The families of Atif Irfan, a tax attorney, and his brother Kashif Irfan, an anesthesiologist, were removed from a flight in Washington before takeoff Thursday after a passenger reported hearing Atif Irfan’s wife say something suspicious.
The FBI interviewed the family and cleared them of wrongdoing.
“We regret that the issue escalated to the heightened security level it did,” AirTran said in a statement Friday afternoon. “But we trust everyone understands that the security and the safety of our passengers is paramount.” Read the full statement (more from CNN).