it was just a matter if time...
Posted on 08/19/2006 4:54:48 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
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.
'There was no fuss or panic'
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."
Time for this to start happening everywhere.
These two Islamic men should consider re-booking their future flight plans at:
http://www.airarabia.com/#
Maybe they would be more comfortable being served by burqua clad Air Arabia stewardesses.
In Britspeak, Asian can equate to Mohammedans.
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.
Actually, Tories aren't necessarily our friends. European politics are different from North American politics. The "liberal" Tony Blair is our ally, while the "conservative" Jacques Chirac is our enemy.
Also remember that during the Revolutionary War, Tories were the ones who opposed American liberty.
bump
It sounds like even though airport security in England and here in the USA are prohibited from using racial profiling as a way of screening potential threats, passengers still have the common sense to use the “if it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck and looks like a duck, then it might very well be a duck” approach.
This is why a 9/11 scenario is more unlikely to succeed now.
So even if these guys were not terrorists and were embarrassed and inconvenienced, too bad. This still makes more sense than keep moms from giving their babies milk or any other unnecessary indignities forced upon regular travelers.
I've called the FBI a couple of times about strange conversations in chat rooms.
That's a standard British practice dating back far longer than any of us have been alive. It sounds nefarious, only because we don't talk like that.
bump and save
"The answer will be they died of political correctness. A pity really....."
Amen to that!
I've been profiling since 9/11.
Anytime I get on a plane,I first look for the people that
I think may cause trouble,...and then I look for the people
that look like they'll help out if I was right about the
first group.
"Political courage is not political suicide.
You can't reason with people blinded by hate. They hate the power of the individual. They hate the progress of women. They hate the religious freedom of others. They hate the liberating breeze of democracy. But, their hate is no match for America's decency."
Know islam, no peace; No islam, know peace
All muslims/arabs are not terrorists...but all terrorists are muslim/arabs!
The passengers did the right thing and all governments should stop being so PC placating muslim/arabs and do the same!!!!
"Political courage is not political suicide.
You can't reason with people blinded by hate. They hate the power of the individual. They hate the progress of women. They hate the religious freedom of others. They hate the liberating breeze of democracy. But, their hate is no match for America's decency."
Know islam, no peace; No islam, know peace
All muslims/arabs are not terrorists...but all terrorists are muslim/arabs!
The passengers did the right thing and all governments should stop being so PC placating muslim/arabs and do the same!!!!
it was just a matter if time...
Asian appearance could mean anything, Indian, Chinese, Malaysian, Caucasian, Gherka and so on. I don't understand why the Brits would be so afraid to fly with a couple Gherkas? I thought they were some of the best and most loyal British soldiers.
This is the best way to handle this, a grass roots effort.
If the profiling by authorities had sorted these two out we can all imagine the outcry from CAIR etc.
This way it's the general public fueling the ouster, something that CAIR will bitch and moan about. That will lead to more profiling by the general public, and even more forced removals.
This is VERY heartning.
Why not just ban Arab-looking guys from flying at all? The two were checked out, found to be innocent of any wrong doing, and booked for a flight the next day. Suppose the people on that flight mutiny? Then what? Will the police say they checked them out alredy and they're OK? Or do they get bounced again?
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