Posted on 12/03/2009 7:15:46 AM PST by Sequoyah101
This squib appeared on the KHOU website on November 18 but is seems to be only a fraction of the story. Read the comments below the story please.
ATLANTA -- AirTran Airways says a flight from Atlanta to Houston with more than 70 passengers on board was delayed when a passenger refused to end a cell phone call.
... Flight 297, a Boeing 717, was taxiing on the runway in Atlanta Tuesday afternoon when a crew member asked a passenger to turn off his phone.
... after several failed attempts by the crew member to end the conversation, the captain returned the plane to the gate.
... the passenger complied when he was asked to get off the plane. He says no charges were filed, and that the plane departed for Houston 2 ½ hours later.
(Excerpt) Read more at khou.com ...
Can anyone corroborate the story provided in the commentary (which I include here to preserve it)?
If this is true it is serious and deserves to be reported more thoroughly.
"One week ago, I went to Ohio on business and to see my father. On Tuesday, November the 17th, I returned home. If you read the papers the 18th you may have seen a blurb where a AirTran flight was cancelled from Atlanta to Houston due to a man who refused to get off of his cell phone before takeoff. It was on Fox.
The above is NOT the whole story!
I was in 1st class coming home. 11 Muslim men got on the plane in full attire. 2 sat in 1st class and the rest peppered themselves throughout the plane all the way to the back. As the plane taxied to the runway the stewardesses gave the safety spiel we are all so familiar with. At that time, one of the men got on his cell and called one of his companions in the back and proceeded to talk on the phone in Arabic very loudly and very aggressively. This took the 1st stewardess out of the picture for she repeatedly told the man that cell phones were not permitted at the time. He ignored her as if she was not there.
The 2nd man who answered the phone did the same and this took out the 2nd stewardess. In the back of the plane at this time, 2 younger Muslims, one in the back, isle, and one in front of him, window, began to show footage of a porno they had taped the night before, and were very loud about it. The 3rd stewardess informed them that they were not to have electronic devices on at this time. To which one of the men said “shut up infidel dog!” She went to take the camcorder and he began to scream in her face in Arabic. At that exact moment, all 11 of them got up and started to walk the cabin. This is where I had had enough! I got up and started to the back where I heard a voice behind me from another Texan twice my size say “I got your back.” I grabbed the man who had been on the phone by the arm and said “you WILL go sit down or you Will be thrown from this plane!” As I “led” him around me to take his seat, the fellow Texan grabbed him by the back of his neck and his waist and headed out with him. I then grabbed the 2nd man and said, “You WILL do the same!” He protested but adrenaline was flowing now and he was going to go. As I escorted him forward the plane doors open and 3 TSA agents and 4 police officers entered. Me and my new Texan friend were told to cease and desist for they had this under control. I was happy to oblige actually. There was some commotion in the back, but within moments, all 11 were escorted off the plane. They then unloaded their luggage.
We talked about the occurrence and were in disbelief that it had happen, when suddenly, the door open again and on walked all 11!! Stone faced, eyes front and robotic (the only way I can describe it). The stewardess from the back had been in tears and when she saw this, she was having NONE of it! Being that I was up front, I heard and saw the whole ordeal. She told the TSA agent there was NO WAY she was staying on the plane with these men. The agent told her they had searched them and were going to go through their luggage with a fine tooth comb and that they were allowed to proceed to Houston. The captain and co-captain came out and told the agent “we and our crew will not fly this plane!” After a word or two, the entire crew, luggage in tow, left the plane. 5 minutes later, the cabin door opened again and a whole new crew walked on.
Again…..this is where I had had enough!!! I got up and asked “What the hell is going on!?!?” I was told to take my seat. They were sorry for the delay and I would be home shortly. I said “I’m getting off this plane”. The stewardess sternly told me that she could not allow me to get off. (now I’m mad!) I said “I am a grown man who bought this ticket, who’s time is mine with a family at home and I am going through that door, or I’m going through that door with you under my arm!! But I am going through that door!!” And I heard a voice behind me say “so am I”. Then everyone behind us started to get up and say the same. Within 2 minutes, I was walking off that plane where I was met with more agents who asked me to write a statement. I had 5 hours to kill at this point so why the hell not. Due to the amount of people who got off that flight, it was cancelled. I was supposed to be in Houston at 6pm. I got here at 12:30 am.
Look up the date. Flight 297 Atlanta to Houston. Fox did report only the delay caused by cell phone on November 18th.
If this wasn’t a dry run, I don’t know what one is. They wanted to see how TSA would handle it, how the crew would handle it, and how the passengers would handle it.
I’m telling this to you because I want you to know."
Sounds very internetty.
Sounds internetty to me, too. Reminds me of the story from a few years back by Annie Jacobson.
Sure does.
White says that after several failed attempts by the crew member to end the conversation, the captain returned the plane to the gate.White says the passenger complied when he was asked to get off the plane. He says no charges were filed, and that the plane departed for Houston 2 ½ hours later.
It took 2 ½ hours for a plane to taxi back to a gate, remove a passenger, then takeoff?
Even accounting for having to replace lost fuel due to excessive taxiing, and losing a takeoff slot, 2 ½ hours seems like an awfully long delay for one guy.
Hmmmm....”internetty”....nice new term there, yours? I like it, and I agree.
Sounds like a total crock of shyte. The Muzzies have shown that they know how to adapt and they know that the days of passive hijackings are over. It’s like Ray Liotta said in goodfellas when the cops surrounded his car: “I knew right away it wasn’t the mob. If it was they wouldn’t make a sound and I’d be dead.”
Is this your statement or something you received by e-mail?
Between the joke of airport security and the PC nature of our leadership, I could see this happening. We most likely have not been hit again because the camel jockeys have not tried.
Also sounds very plausible.
If the official story is true I’m flummoxed that no charges were filed when someone caused a plane to return to the gate AND BE DELAYED 2.5 hours. The cell phone caller should be charged the cost of the delay at the least.
You mean, “internutty.” Probably. It almost sounds like a re-hash (with changes) of the real-world occurrence with 9 imams who have since sued (through CARE) the airlines. Don’t know if that is still on-going.
Maybe this article is a hoax?
Breaking News:
Just posted:
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/17508
Security incident aboard AirTran Flight 297 suggests terror “Dry Run”
Doug Hagmann Bio
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By Doug Hagmann Thursday, December 3, 2009
On November 17, an incident took place aboard AirTran Flight 297 scheduled to fly from Atlanta Hartsfield Airport to Houston that the media does not want to cover and everyone from the airline to the TSA and other government agencies want to keep very quiet. The reasons, I have been told, is fear of predatory lawsuits, negative publicity from accusations of religious profiling, and the obligatory subjugation to mindless mandatory Muslim sensitivity training that make a mockery of our American system of values. Interestingly, one airline official told me “we don’t want to become another flight 300,” which is a reference to a very similar scenario that took place aboard US Airways Flight 300 exactly three years ago.
I was first contacted about this incident two days after it happened by a passenger who was aboard AirTran Flight 297. Based on the allegations made by this passenger, we conducted additional research, interviews and investigation, all of which takes time to insure accuracy, and are now able to release our report of the incident that took place aboard that aircraft. Be prepared to be shocked, angered, and perhaps saddened by our national and corporate acquiescence to mafia-type tactics by Islamists who are engaged in a full frontal assault, and laughing about it.
Unsurprisingly, the facts we developed during the course of our investigation are inconsistent with those being reported in the media, despite the media having the responsibility to report the truth.
The incident
a group of thirteen men dressed in traditional Muslim attire were among 73 passengers who boarded AirTran Flight 297 on Tuesday, 17 November 2009, a routine flight scheduled to depart Atlanta Hartsfield Airport, gate C-16 at 4:43 PM ET to Houston Hobby Airport. Reports developed by this investigator found two witnesses who observed direct interaction among all of these Muslim men at the terminal.
As the passengers boarded the aircraft, two of the Muslim men took seats in first class, while the remaining eleven were seated throughout the remaining rows of the aircraft. Most had carrying-on bags that they stowed in the overhead compartments above their seats.
More…
In my text I note that the source of the eye witness account is the comment filed below the article.
Note that this has also appeared in the Dallas Morning News and posted to FP today (it did not show up in my keyword search made before my post)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2399187/posts
While this may be going viral so do rumors. I am simply asking if anyone here knows anything.
Hardly....
I don’t know if this is a trustworthy account, but FWIW, this person says they interviewed passengers etc.:
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/17508
Oops, you beat me!
I have a milder but similar story that I too thought was a test. My wife and I were flying home from Orlando in first class. A young muslim couple got on, also in first class, with two boys, and they sat behind us. I thought this a little odd because you don’t normally see a young family like this paying for 4 first class seats.
Everything went normally up to the plane taxiing on the runway out to the takeoff point. About halfway out, the woman muslim rang the call button and told the flight attendant that one of her boys was running a high fever and she wanted to return to the gate. So we did.
Now I thought it odd that she would take the kid’s temperature at that point in time. If the kid was that sick, why did they get on the plane in the first place?
Anyway, they all got off at which point I called the flight attendant and told him that I wanted off unless they took that family’s luggage off too.
He said,” that’s a good idea”, so we waited while they did that. Apparently that might have been the test part. They wanted to see if the bags got removed.
Now I don’t know what the baggage rules are or if my comment was the motivator for the removal, but I didn’t feel comfortable flying with them on board.
Wow, I would think they would automatically remove baggage for people who get off the plane before takeoff.
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