Good thing for him his name isn't *Martin Luther King*...
Posted on 06/16/2003 9:07:51 AM PDT by Henrietta
The skies haven't been friendly lately for David Nelson.
Any David Nelson.
Throughout Southern California and across the country, men named David Nelson report they have been harassed, questioned by FBI agents, pulled off airplanes, searched and then searched again when attempting air travel.
Apparently caught up in a nationwide dragnet for a terrorist by that name, David Nelsons everywhere are being told their names raise red flags on airline screening software. The government, however, maintains that the problem is essentially a computer glitch the airlines must solve.
Some David Nelsons in Southern California say they don't care why it's happening. They just want their names off the list.
"It was such a fiasco," David Nelson of Hollywood said recently of his most recent attempt at flying.
The 35-year-old actor said he was headed to Hawaii on vacation and handed his driver's license to a ticket agent at LAX, who blurted, "Oh, boy. Here's another David Nelson."
"She told me, 'There's some terrorist with that name or something. That name brings a red flag."'
Only a few months earlier, Nelson was settling into his seat on a New York-bound airplane when a voice called out, "David Nelson, please exit the plane."
Within moments, FBI agents surrounded him, asked him to remove his shoes and searched his carry-on bags again. He eventually was allowed to reboard. But, he said, "When you get back on the plane, people look at you funny."
So when Nelson was stopped again on his Hawaii-bound flight, he said he felt intensely frustrated. Security guards searched him head to toe at the gate, and then insisted on doing it again before he could board.
That's when Nelson said he turned around, abandoned his vacation, and walked out. He hasn't flown since.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailynews.com ...
Wow, typical "It's for our own protection" garbage. Sounds like someone named "David Nelson" got on some government goon's "harrassment" list, and this is the result.
Could someone bump this to the airline bump list? I don't know how to find the bump lists...
Good thing for him his name isn't *Martin Luther King*...
foreverfree
But I always had my doubts about Thorny the nextdoor neighbor.
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