Teen fined for lighting shoes on airplane

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | Sunday, August 04, 2002 | Barbara White Stack

[Willie Green]

A 17-year-old Canadian boy who singed parts of his sneakers with a lighter yesterday while his US Airways plane taxied to a gate at Pittsburgh International Airport has been fined for disorderly conduct.

"It was bad judgment," said Allegheny County police Sgt. Robert Clark, who is stationed at the airport. Police found no explosives and nothing hazardous in the boy's shoes or on the plane. The FBI declined to prosecute.

[Ann Archy]

All he got was a FINE??? He had a LIGHTER?? Lit his shoes? HE"S lucky the passengers did beat the hell out of the PUNK.....probably because they were on the ground, but they should refuse to let him fly on their planes again.

[BeAllYouCanBe]

OK, Starting a fire on an airliner is disorderly conduct!

Let's try for attempted murder -- at least. If he succeeded in setting a fire the 40+ people could have been killed. Yet, the officials liken this to cigarette smoking which is a Federal offence!

[Sungirl]

He told police he was burning strings and "loose stuff" off his shoes,
....he continued...."I'm a dumb$hit, EH?"

[Amerigomag]

"The father is upset that his son would do such a thing,"

From my perspective this was a refreshing comment. No anguish over profiling or mistreatment.

I always suspected that there was at least one hyphenated American who was absorbed by reason.

[Willie Green]

....he continued...."I'm a dumb$hit, EH?"

We're talking an Iranian-Canadian who's living in LA...
And a teenager to boot.
The little dude has got to have one heckuva strange accent.

[Reeses]

The incident bore virtually no resemblance to the scare on a Paris-to-Miami flight in December.

You could have fooled me. Why did the reporter feel the need to insert that PC opinion? Because the perp was Iranian? Funny how no names were mentioned except white people sounding names.

[Bubba_Leroy]

If my son did that his shoes wouldn't be the only things burning. His butt would burn for a looong time.

[Loc123]

Reeses I'm glad that somebody else noticed this bs pc whitewash. This is a clear-as-day example of PC nonsense and bias; the incident bore HUGE resemblence to the Richard Reid case. 1) the boy is arabic 2) he was lighting something that portruded from his shoe. Un-fricking believable that nobody in the public eye will call the media on their bias.

[Lorenb420]

A 17-year-old Canadian boy...

The youth, of Iranian descent, lives in Los Angeles, Clark said.

So he's an Iranian immirgant to Canada now living illegally in LA?

[FR_addict]

I hadn't thought about this before. You can't have nail clippers or small pocket knives, but you are allowed lighters on board?

I don't think lighters or matches should be allowed on board as carry on. It's not like you can smoke on board a plane anymore.

[contessa machiaveli]

iranians aren't arabic...they're persian. (there's a big difference). hopefully, the father will have the little moron committed or sent to relatives in tehran.

[INSENSITIVE GUY]

Another well adjusted youth.

[iconoclast]

Hey ... just a little fart from inside the Trojan horse.

[mhking]

HE"S lucky the passengers did beat the hell out of the PUNK

Tell me about it! I'm shocked that no one punched him for the hell of it to begin with.

[iconoclast]

iranians aren't arabic...they're persian. (there's a big difference).

The big similarity is he is ISLAMIC contessa. Wake up and smell the burning fuses.

[unbiasedtruth]

You can bring a lighter on board an aircraft, but just one. I found that out recently. While on a business trip, I had need to purchase a new lighter. The hotel gift shop only sold lighters in two packs. So I placed them in my briefcase and when passing through airport security, I was pulled aside and questioned. I had to give one of them up, but was allowed to continue on to the gate with just one lighter.

And yes, one can't smoke on board commercial aircraft any more, which is a good thing, IMHO. But after a 3 hour plus flight, seated next to some people, I just need a smoke during layovers!

[Loc123]

Is there? Can you tell me please? All I know is that Jordanians look just like the terrorists on the FBI list and they are not technically "Arabic." Please, enlighten me :)

[Reeses]

You can bring a lighter on board an aircraft, but just one.

That sort of bothers me, being that a large propane filled lighter could be used as one heck of a fuel air explosive. Four passengers and you've got 4 times the punch. Fuel air explosives are the poor man's nuclear bomb. If the air mixture is just right it produces a powerful concussion.

I remember when I was a kid I visited Texas and bought myself a box full of firecrackers to bring home to California. I wrapped the box as a birthday present and took it on the plane as carry-on. They ran it through the x-ray machine 3 times but let me take it on. Looking back on it I'm thankful I'm not sitting in a Texas jail right now.

[TopQuark]

I always suspected that there was at least one hyphenated American who was absorbed by reason.

Or there are many such Americans: we just do not hear about them.