9 Muslim passengers removed from flight

9 Muslim passengers removed from flight


WASHINGTON (AP) (AP) - Nine Muslim passengers were kicked off a flight
from Washington, D.C., to Florida after other passengers reported hearing a
suspicious remark about airplane security.
AirTran Airways spokesman Tad Hutcheson called the incident on the New
Year's Day flight from Reagan National Airport to Orlando, Florida, a
misunderstanding, but defended the company's response. He said the airline
followed federal rules and did nothing wrong.

One of the Muslim passengers, Kashif Irfan, told The Washington Post
the confusion began when his brother was talking about the safest place to
sit on an airplane.

"My brother and his wife were discussing some aspect of airport
security," Irfan said. "The only thing my brother said was, 'Wow, the jets
are right next to my window."'

Irfan told the newspaper he thought he and the others were profiled
because of their appearance. The men had beards and the women wore
headscarves, traditional Muslim attire.

Irfan, 34, is an anesthesiologist and his brother is a lawyer. Both
live in Alexandria, Virginia, with their families, and were born in Detroit.
They were traveling with their wives, Irfan's sister-in-law and Irfan's
three sons, ages 7, 4 and 2. A family friend also was traveling with the
group to a religious retreat in Florida.

Federal officials ordered the rest of the passengers from the plane
and re-screened them before allowing the flight to depart.

The family was upset that AirTran didn't allow the Muslim passengers
to book another flight. They eventually made it to their destination on a US
Airways flight.

"The FBI agents actually cleared our names," Inayet Sahin, one of the
family members kicked off the flight, told CNN. "They went on our behalf and
spoke to the airlines and said, 'There is no suspicious activity here. They
are clear. Please let them get on a flight so they can go on their
vacation,' and they still refused."

Hutcheson said the passengers were given a full refund and are welcome
to fly on AirTran now that the investigation is complete.

Hutcheson and a federal Transportation Security Administration
spokeswoman said the pilot was right to postpone the flight.

"At the end of the day, people got on and made comments they shouldn't
have made on the airplane, and other people heard them," Hutcheson said.
"Other people heard them, misconstrued them. It just so happened these
people were of Muslim faith and appearance. It escalated, it got out of hand
and everyone took precautions."

One of the passengers removed, Abdur Razack Aziz, said he will
consider a lawsuit.