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You conveniently skipped item No. 3, and you also fail to address a piece of info you are perfectly aware of -- the information from the woman seated behind the offending passenger, when she said he spoke a language she "believed" might have been Spanish. Two things there -- the fact that the word "believed" was used and the implication that Spanish translators could even remotely be considered problematic on a flight to Texas -- should raise flashing red flags in the mind of anyone with a lick of critical thinking ability.

Now COME ON, Mindbender .... doesn't that just stretch your capacity for credulity a little bit??? It's okay ... you can admit it ... you'll still be respected in the morning.

You really seriously believe that a man apparently unable to speak English but traveling on a relatively small plane with at least a dozen companions, caused all this fuss-up because none of his companions could act as a translator on the spot?

I think (and admit if so) I erroneously clamed that AirTran and TSA confirm that the entire crew switched out and that some passengers refused to continue the flight. I KNOW FOR CERTAIN, however that I haven't read any denials of those points from AirTran or TSA. Do things like that happen on a weekly basis at major airports across the nation and if your answer is "yes," please tell me how you know this -- i.e., do you work in the industry, are you close to people in the airline industry, or have some inside knowledge of this? The reason I ask is because I've seen other FReepers who DO have experience in the airline industry point out that such an extreme event is uncommon indeed.

As I have said repeatedly, often in posts to you on different threads: I don't pretend to know what happened, but I sure as heck know what didn't happen. That plane didn't return the gate, lose its crew and many of its passengers, and leave two hours late because of a common, simple, miscommunication caused by lack of translators in a travelling group of more than a dozen people.

So far, out of all my requests for specifics from you on at least two different threads, you have NOT ONCE responded in substance, with links or reasonable explanations for such details as how there could be not one translator among a group of more than a dozen travelling companions. Instead, you've offered vague generalizations and expected them to suffice.

Somebody's easily fooled, allright. Got a mirror?

The man and 12 others traveling with him were allowed to reboard the plan and it left for Houston a little more than two hours later. The entire incident is described as a communication problem with language; among all those travelling companions, none could spoke the same langage and could have served as an interpreter on the plane and nipped the incident in the bud.

Why shouldn't they be allowed back on the plane. They were searched, they were clean, go fly to Houston.

Remember, the only person who says they were Arabic was not on the flight, and he has admitted that he lied about the fact they were wearing "Arabic clothes." He is the ONLY person who says they were Arabic and he was 22 minutes by air away from Atlanta on another inbound flight when it happened!