Mutiny on Flight 613

British holidaymakers staged an unprecedented mutiny - refusing to allow their flight to take off until two men they feared were terrorists were forcibly removed.

The extraordinary scenes happened after some of the 150 passengers on a Malaga-Manchester flight overheard two men of Asian appearance apparently talking Arabic.

Passengers told cabin crew they feared for their safety and demanded police action. Some stormed off the Monarch Airlines Airbus A320 minutes before it was due to leave the Costa del Sol at 3am. Others waiting for Flight ZB 613 in the departure lounge refused to board it.

The incident fuels the row over airport security following the arrest of more than 20 people allegedly planning the suicide-bombing of transatlantic jets from the UK to America. It comes amid growing demands for passenger-profiling and selective security checks.

It also raised fears that more travellers will take the law into their own hands - effectively conducting their own 'passenger profiles'.

The passenger revolt came as Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary was accused of using the terror crisis to make money. Government sources say he boasted to an official at the Transport Department: "Every time I appear on TV, I get a spike in sales."

The Tories said the Government's failure to reassure travellers had led the Malaga passengers to 'behave irrationally' and 'hand a victory to terrorists'.

Websites used by pilots and cabin crew were yesterday reporting further incidents. In one, two British women with young children on another flight from Spain complained about flying with a bearded Muslim even though he had been security-checked twice before boarding.

The trouble in Malaga flared last Wednesday as two British citizens in their 20s waited in the departure lounge to board the pre-dawn flight and were heard talking what passengers took to be Arabic. Worries spread after a female passenger said she had heard something that alarmed her.

Passengers noticed that, despite the heat, the pair were wearing leather jackets and thick jumpers and were regularly checking their watches.

Initially, six passengers refused to board the flight. On board the aircraft, word reached one family. To the astonishment of cabin crew, they stood up and walked off, followed quickly by others.

The Monarch pilot - a highly experienced captain - accompanied by armed Civil Guard police and airport security staff, approached the two men and took their passports.

Half an hour later, police returned and escorted the two Asian passengers off the jet.

Soon afterwards, the aircraft was cleared while police did a thorough security sweep. Nothing was found and the plane took off - three hours late and without the two men on board.

Monarch arranged for them to spend the rest of the night in an airport hotel and flew them back to Manchester later on Wednesday.

College lecturer Jo Schofield, her husband Heath and daughters Emily, 15, and Isabel, 12, were caught up in the passenger mutiny.

Mrs Schofield, 38, said: "The plane was not yet full and it became apparent that people were refusing to board. In the gate waiting area, people had been talking about these two, who looked really suspicious with their heavy clothing, scruffy, rough, appearance and long hair.

"Some of the older children, who had seen the terror alert on television, were starting to mutter things like, 'Those two look like they're bombers.'

"Then a family stood up and walked off the aircraft. They were joined by others, about eight in all. We learned later that six or seven people had refused to get on the plane.

"There was no fuss or panic. People just calmly and quietly got off the plane. There were no racist taunts or any remarks directed at the men.

"It was an eerie scene, very quiet. The children were starting to ask what was going on. We tried to play it down."

Mr Schofield, 40, an area sales manager, said: "When the men were taken off they didn't argue or say a word. They just picked up their coats and obeyed the police. They seemed resigned to the fact they were under suspicion.

"The captain and crew were very apologetic when we were asked to evacuate the plane for the security search. But there was no dissent.

"While we were waiting, everyone agreed the men looked dodgy. Some passengers were very panicky and in tears. There was a lot of talking about terrorists."

Patrick Mercer, the Tory Homeland Security spokesman, said last night: "This is a victory for terrorists. These people on the flight have been terrorised into behaving irrationally.

"For those unfortunate two men to be victimised because of the colour of their skin is just nonsense."

Monarch said last night: "The captain was concerned about the security surrounding the two gentlemen on the aircraft and the decision was taken to remove them from the flight for further security checks.

"The two passengers offloaded from the flight were later cleared by airport security and rebooked to travel back to Manchester on a later flight."

A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Malaga said: "These men had aroused suspicion because of their appearance and the fact that they were speaking in a foreign language thought to be an Arabic language, and the pilot was refusing to take off until they were escorted off the plane."

It seems that the two gentlemen had also drawn the attention of airport security, "even though he had been security-checked twice before boarding". The passengers just took the next logical step, one I hope that is adopted by all airlines-suspicious Arabs just don't fly, no matter if they are searched or not. They may or may not be up to no good, but who can risk it now.

I've tended to wonder whether the jihadists are trying to do various "tests" to figure out how to maximize the likelihood that their next attack will work. Try something that should be deemed suspicious, but in such a way as to maintain plausible deniability, and see what the reaction is.

This does raise an interesting question, though: suppose that one knows that a jihadist is testing X-ray equipment/personnel by bringing on packages whose image will look like that of a bomb one has tried to obscure, but whose contents are all perfectly legal. In what cases is it better to let the terrorist know his package has been noticed as suspicious, and in what cases is it better to let him think it hasn't?

Friday, 28 December, 2001 London-born Richard Reid has been sentenced in the United States after admitting trying to blow up a commercial flight using bombs hidden in his shoes. The son of an English mother and Jamaican father, so-called "shoe bomber" Richard Reid was born in 1973 in the London suburb of Bromley. ..................................................... It is hardly a natural breeding ground for dissidents - the borough's schools are among the UK's best, and street crime is half that in smarter areas such as Kensington and Chelsea. ...................................... The young Reid is said to have attended Thomas Tallis secondary school in Blackheath, south-east London, from 1984 to 1989. .................................................. His father, Robin, told BBC News he had been in prison for most of Richard's childhood. .................................................. "I was not there to give him the love and affection he should have got," he said. ............................................. His son fell into a life of petty crime and in the mid-1990s was jailed for a string of muggings, for which he served sentences in a number of prisons, including Feltham young offenders' institution in west London. .............................................. It was while at Feltham that Reid is said to have converted to Islam. ................................. Worship After his release, he followed the path taken by many other Muslim prisoners, to Brixton Mosque, in south London. The place of worship has a reputation for attracting converts and helping ex-offenders re-adjust to life in the outside world. Initially he fitted in well. Taking the name Abdel Rahim, he became known for his willingness to get involved in the workings of the mosque and to learn Arabic............... But at some point Reid began to get involved with extremist elements, says the chairman of Brixton Mosque, Abdul Haqq Baker. ................................. Reid was "tempted away" by "individuals who set up a few years ago away from the mosque", Mr Baker says. "Their teachings were a lot more militant." He says extremists worked on "weak characters" and believes Reid was "very, very impressionable". Reid attended external classes and started to question the peaceful philosophy of his teachers. Change in appearance His appearance also changed, says Mr Baker. He went from wearing western clothes to the traditional Islamic thobe - a loose, long-sleeved, ankle-length garment - with a khaki combat jacket on top. ........................... There is speculation that at some point during his drift to a more extreme philosophy, he may have met Zacarias Moussaoui, who has been charged in the US with conspiracy over the 11 September attacks. ............................ Mr Moussaoui, a Frenchman of Moroccan origin, also attended the Brixton Mosque during the 1990s but was expelled for his extreme views and his attempts to impose them on the younger, more easily influenced members. ......................................... Towards the end of 1998, Reid ceased worshipping at the mosque and is thought to have moved to Pakistan. .............................................. He reportedly sent several letters written in Arabic to friends in London. His mother, Lesley Hughes, who is separated from Reid's father, also believed he was in Pakistan. ............................................. But mother and son eventually lost contact and in summer 2001 Ms Hughes telephoned Brixton Mosque seeking news. .................................................... About the same time, Reid is believed to have embarked on an extensive travel programme, which saw him visit seven countries including some of the world's so-called "terror capitals". ....................................................... He is thought to have spent time in Egypt, Israel, Turkey, Pakistan, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and possibly Afghanistan. ................................................. Commentators have suggested he may have used some of these excursions to test the security arrangements on various airlines, before boarding American Airlines flight 63 from Paris to Miami on 22 December 2001. ............................................. He was overpowered by passengers and crew on the flight after trying to set light to a fuse connected to the explosives. ................................ It has also been reported that a computer allegedly used by al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan contained files with details of a "scouting" trip Reid is believed to have carried out to identify targets to attack. The computer files describe an operative known as Brother Abdul Ra'uff who travelled to the same countries Reid is believed to have spent time in. Like Reid, the operative travelled on a British passport and was closely questioned by Israeli security. As a result of the files the United States Government laid new charges against Mr Reid, including attempted murder.

"The problem in this country (US) is that not all Muslims are Arabs or Pakistanis, and in fact we have a large number of home-grown blacks who are Muslims (and in fact have been engaged in terrorism, such as the DC snipers, or have been caught in broader terrorist plots with Pakistani Muslims). And of course we also have a number of whites, such as the plump, dreary white girls here in Florida who have started flopping around in their mountains of cloth because they have a prison-Muslim boyfriend.

So profiling is a little trickier than it sounds, since we are not permitted to ask for religious affiliation and they would just lie, anyway."

While I see your point. I don't know if anyone here is suggesting that the only security checks should be profiling. I think we should have the profiling and the other checks, like having to go through a metal detector, having to have luggage screened, etc. I know there are problems with these other measures, but I do think they are needed, but with profiling added to them.

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