A short note started chain that ended in imams kicked off flight (Flyin' Imams!!)

PioneerPress ^ | 7/12/08 | David Hanners

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Moments after boarding US Airways Flight 300 for Phoenix, Michael McCombie, a 3M sales rep from Santa Clara, Calif., jotted a note and handed it to flight attendant Terri Boatner:

"6 suspicious Arabic men on plane, spaced out in their seats. All were together, saying '... Allah ... Allah ...' cursing U.S. involvement w/Saddaam before flight. 1 in front exit row, another in first row 1st class, another in 8D, another in 22D, two in 25 E & F."

The men in question were six Muslim imams, or prayer leaders, returning home from a conference in Minneapolis. Within minutes of getting McCombie's note that November evening in 2006, the plane's captain had the men removed from the flight because of "safety concerns." Within hours, the airline reversed itself, determined that the men posed no risk, offered to book them on another flight and apologized.

Within days, though, the incident at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport had exploded into controversy. There were claims of discrimination against Muslims and calls for a boycott of the airline, while others contended the men had acted suspiciously and the airline did the right thing. The imams later sued US Airways and the Metropolitan Airports Commission, claiming they had been kicked off the flight and detained by airport police because of their religion, ethnicity and national origin.

In a federal courtroom in Minneapolis on Monday, lawyers for the imams, the airline and the airport commission will argue over an evidentiary issue that must be settled for the case to continue. Lawyers for the imams claim US Airways and the commission have wrongly withheld information in the part of the lawsuit known as discovery.

[Marysecretary]

Islam is backward. Period.

[SeafoodGumbo]

Links aren’t working for me.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

This one works for me.

http://www.twincities.com/ci_9860649?nclick_check=1

[knews_hound]

Great minds think alike.

http://knewshound.blogspot.com/2006/11/allahboard-us-airways.html

You have to pardon the humor but it was too juicy a target to pass up.

Cheers,

knewshound

[Publius6961]

In short, the plaintiffs want to know what information US Airways Capt. John Howard Wood had when he decided to kick the imams off the plane — and whether that information justified his decision.

Limit the pilot's ultimate discretion on the safety of his flight, and it's a can of worms that has no good ending.

These losers were singled out for the way they were acting, not on how they looked.

How about if holy rollers or snake handlers decided to 'pray" before a flight?

I hope the courts use common sense in this case.

Don't want to be noticed? Then don't act weird.

An airliner is not the place for overt prayer any normal person would notice.

[SeafoodGumbo]

Thanks. Since no one else has the same issue, it must be me. I reloaded the OS, browser, etc. a few hours ago, so I guess something is wrong on my end.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Now, it doesn’t work.