"Mobius" wrote in message
...
Read "Muslim" for "Asian" in the following story for it to make sense.

Coming soon to a flight nearby, maybe (& hopefully) soon:


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1770

19/08/06 - News section

Mutiny as passengers refuse to fly until Asians are removed

By CHRISTOPHER LEAKE and ANDREW CHAPMAN

British holidaymakers staged an unprecedented mutiny - refusing to allow
their flight to take off until two men they feared were terrorists were
forcibly removed.

The extraordinary scenes happened after some of the 150 passengers on a
Malaga-Manchester flight overheard two men of Asian appearance apparently
talking Arabic.

Passengers told cabin crew they feared for their safety and demanded
police
action. Some stormed off the Monarch Airlines Airbus A320 minutes before
it
was due to leave the Costa del Sol at 3am. Others waiting for Flight ZB
613
in the departure lounge refused to board it.

The incident fuels the row over airport security following the arrest of
more than 20 people allegedly planning the suicide-bombing of
transatlantic
jets from the UK to America. It comes amid growing demands for
passenger-profiling and selective security checks.

It also raised fears that more travellers will take the law into their own
hands - effectively conducting their own 'passenger profiles'.

The passenger revolt came as Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary was accused of
using the terror crisis to make money. Government sources say he boasted
to
an official at the Transport Department: "Every time I appear on TV, I get
a
spike in sales."

The Tories said the Government's failure to reassure travellers had led
the
Malaga passengers to 'behave irrationally' and 'hand a victory to
terrorists'.

Websites used by pilots and cabin crew were yesterday reporting further
incidents. In one, two British women with young children on another flight
from Spain complained about flying with a bearded Muslim even though he
had
been security-checked twice before boarding.

The trouble in Malaga flared last Wednesday as two British citizens in
their
20s waited in the departure lounge to board the pre-dawn flight and were
heard talking what passengers took to be Arabic. Worries spread after a
female passenger said she had heard something that alarmed her.

Passengers noticed that, despite the heat, the pair were wearing leather
jackets and thick jumpers and were regularly checking their watches.

Initially, six passengers refused to board the flight. On board the
aircraft, word reached one family. To the astonishment of cabin crew, they
stood up and walked off, followed quickly by others.

The Monarch pilot - a highly experienced captain - accompanied by armed
Civil Guard police and airport security staff, approached the two men and
took their passports.

Half an hour later, police returned and escorted the two Asian passengers
off the jet.

'There was no fuss or panic'

Soon afterwards, the aircraft was cleared while police did a thorough
security sweep. Nothing was found and the plane took off - three hours
late
and without the two men on board.

Monarch arranged for them to spend the rest of the night in an airport
hotel
and flew them back to Manchester later on Wednesday.

College lecturer Jo Schofield, her husband Heath and daughters Emily, 15,
and Isabel, 12, were caught up in the passenger mutiny.

Mrs Schofield, 38, said: "The plane was not yet full and it became
apparent
that people were refusing to board. In the gate waiting area, people had
been talking about these two, who looked really suspicious with their
heavy
clothing, scruffy, rough, appearance and long hair.

"Some of the older children, who had seen the terror alert on television,
were starting to mutter things like, 'Those two look like they're
bombers.'

"Then a family stood up and walked off the aircraft. They were joined by
others, about eight in all. We learned later that six or seven people had
refused to get on the plane.

"There was no fuss or panic. People just calmly and quietly got off the
plane. There were no racist taunts or any remarks directed at the men.

"It was an eerie scene, very quiet. The children were starting to ask what
was going on. We tried to play it down."

Mr Schofield, 40, an area sales manager, said: "When the men were taken
off
they didn't argue or say a word. They just picked up their coats and
obeyed
the police. They seemed resigned to the fact they were under suspicion.

"The captain and crew were very apologetic when we were asked to evacuate
the plane for the security search. But there was no dissent.

"While we were waiting, everyone agreed the men looked dodgy. Some
passengers were very panicky and in tears. There was a lot of talking
about
terrorists."

Patrick Mercer, the Tory Homeland Security spokesman, said last night:
"This
is a victory for terrorists. These people on the flight have been
terrorised
into behaving irrationally.

"For those unfortunate two men to be victimised because of the colour of
their skin is just nonsense."

Monarch said last night: "The captain was concerned about the security
surrounding the two gentlemen on the aircraft and the decision was taken
to
remove them from the flight for further security checks.

"The two passengers offloaded from the flight were later cleared by
airport
security and rebooked to travel back to Manchester on a later flight."

A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Malaga said: "These men had aroused
suspicion because of their appearance and the fact that they were speaking
in a foreign language thought to be an Arabic language, and the pilot was
refusing to take off until they were escorted off the plane."
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Find this story at

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1770
©2006 Associated New Media

Americans are too wimpy to protest anything less obvious than a camel
coming aboard.

hank


















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