Posted on 09/08/2012 1:44:24 PM PDT by DFG
A bomb-sniffing military dog that has served two tours in Afghanistan was refused passage on a U.S. commercial flight to the Democratic National Convention last week by a pilot who was concerned the K-9 could be aggressive.
The 6-year-old German shepherd named Kevin was prevented from boarding a US Airways flight from Phoenix, Ariz., to Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 1. The dog has flown on other commercial flights previously, usually sitting on the floor at the row of seats next to the bulkhead of the passenger cabin with his Navy handler.
On the evening of Sept. 1, the dog and handler were preparing to board the US Airways flight at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix when the captain of the plane asked if the dog was trained to attack, according to a source with direct knowledge of the incident.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Sounds like the handler was really vague.
It really isn’t fair to other human passengers to be trapped in an airplane cabin with a large dog. Some people fear dogs and many are uncomfortable around the more ferocious looking species.
Sounds like a cool dog....he probably didn’t want to go and deal with that gaggle of freakish morons, anyway.
sounds like racial profiling to me . i am more concerned with the 300# women with her ass hanging in my space. i have stopped flying there is no place i need to be if it is on a airplane
Besides, with all the muzzie delegates and attendees at the convention, that dog would have been treated like dirt.
Its a dog. It would be species profiling.
What a thorough-going dumbass. Nice to hear that he’s being nationally embarrassed. (Not that I wanted anything especially good to happen at the DNC.)
It’s a Navy dog, shouldn’t it be sniffing ships and ports of call?
Probably better trained and more well behaved than many oif the passengers.
I saw a drug sniffing dog freak out in an airport terminal when it saw a minature poodle sitting in the lap of a woman waiting to board a plane. It lunged at several people and the handler had a difficult time controlling the dog. She then yelled for everyone to get back. It took several minutes for two people to get the dog out of the gate area. I overheard the handler say it never did that before, but it makes you wonder.
Let’s not be so tough on USAir. If the dog had gotten to the DNC, Obama would have probably eaten it.
This may have saved the dogs life by keeping him away from the DNC. Obama has been known to eat dog.
The dog & handler were on a flight the next day
This is the airline that allowed a PIG to fly.
I can assure you, the captain is not embarrassed. He was perfectly within his authority. Any airline pilot would recognize this as a a possible threat, and he made a decision for HIS aircraft. He simply used his training, and exercised his judgment.
I understand that he was perfectly within his authority, but it was a silly decision. Such a dog is not a threat; on the contrary, it routinely saves lives and would be as much help as a federal air marshal if there were a real security problem on board.
How could he KNOW? As a captain, he is not trained to guess, or assume. Most airlines have procedures for assistance animals, but their carriage is subject to size etc. An animal this size is NORMALLY carried in cargo, NOT the cabin, so this captain made a prudent decision. Maybe not one that all captains would make, but CERTAINLY reasonable.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.