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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
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6

Muslims Booted From Flight for 'Suspicious' Comments

Discussion over safest place to sit gets family chucked off AirTran jet

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(Newser) – An American Muslim family was booted off an Orlando-bound flight at Reagan National Airport after two of them were overheard discussing the safest place to sit on a plane, the Washington Post reports. Suspicious passengers reported the family, dressed in traditional Muslim garb, to the flight crew. FBI agents were alerted and removed the extended family of eight, including three small children, from the plane, along with a friend they had been seen talking to.

"People made comments they shouldn't have made on the airplane," said an AirTran spokesman. "Other people heard them, misconstrued them. It happened these people were of Muslim faith and appearance. It escalated, it got out of hand and everyone took precautions." FBI agents cleared the group—all but one of whom are US citizens—after questioning, but the airline refused to rebook them on a later flight.

A Midwest plane taxis past a parked AirTran plane in this file photo.
A Midwest plane taxis past a parked AirTran plane in this file photo.   (AP Photo/Morry Gash, file)
A member of a Muslim family removed from a flight for making suspicious comments said she had merely been discussing which seats on an airplane were safest.
A member of a Muslim family removed from a flight for making suspicious comments said she had merely been discussing which seats on an airplane were safest.   (©Cubbie_n_Vegas)
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It's a situation of guilt by association. They see one Muslim talking to another Muslim and they automatically assume something wrong is going on. - Abdul Aziz, removed from flight for talking to Muslim family

We are proud Americans. You know we decided to have our children and raise them here. We can very easily go anywhere we want in the world, but you know we love it here and we're not going to go away, no matter what. - A member of the family

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6 comments
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Michael_CT
Jan 2, 09 6:34 AM CST
The safest place to sit is beside the wing. I think its a perfectly sensible question to ask. Reply
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sailor86
Jan 2, 09 8:27 AM CST
Of course it is. But the climate of American sentiment is decidedly non-sympathetic towards Middle Easterners. Our paranoia is going to set us back somewhat because we so distrust those of the Muslim faith. I think it should be pointed out that past Isalamic terrorists did not consider their "way out" of their catastrophes, but would rather die in the name of their god and their faith. Reply
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Newser001
Jan 2, 09 11:56 AM CST
I do feel bad for the Muslim family - They were without question, humiliated, disrespected - Michael_CT, actually, aft has a statistical record of being the most survivable, as it is furthest from fuel (storage), and it has a tendency to maintain its structural integrity in accidents, although relatively few, in significant accidents, really survive... But access to the wing, if no fire, does provide a means of egress... Reply
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sadtimes
Jan 2, 09 1:38 PM CST
That sucks, I'd be pissed... Reply
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Laugh
Jan 2, 09 3:06 PM CST
They wouldn't be wondering where it was the safest if they were planning on dying. It's going to take a long time for 9-11 to heal. Reply
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