'Safety' Remark Gets Muslim Family Kicked Off Plane

It's a shame when any one can't discuss their own safety without being discriminated on.

This churns my stomach. Nobody would have said "boo" if the family having the conversation was white.

OMG!~ Not right, not right at all!

I agree with Diane

They should have been rebooked, but they also should have used some common sense in the first place. Talking about passenger safety on an airplane would make people nervous, even more so if you're dressed in a particular fashion. Prejudice still exists and will for a long time. Electing Obama didn't make all that go away.

You have to be careful about what you say. Just like fire in a crowded place. No matter who you are or what you are you have to think efore you speak. I wouldnt sit on a plane and talk about a gun or knife. I am white but I know better.

Wow......sometimes I think people need to be more careful what they're saying and where they're saying it. It's not right, however, the times have really changed and we all do need to be careful.

"'Wow, the jets are right next to my window"

That is the apparent offending remark. A passenger claims they used the word "bomb" but frankly I doubt it, since these people were traveling with their wives and children. Even the FBI said there was no reason to keep these folks off the plane. It's repulsive.

they should of used common sense .

That was wrong!

I read about it

I read about that this morning and my thought is that since 9/11 the citizens of our country has been encouraged to act like those awful people on that plane. We have lost so much in the name of National safety.............how sad!

That's nuts.

And, how do the people on the plane know for sure that they're Muslim? I've seen Christians from certain parts of the world dress the same way as their Muslim counterparts.

I would sue if I were that family. That is complete nonsense for AirTran to treat those passengers that way.

Now D, you know as part of a minority you know there are some places where you can openly be yourself and other places where you have to be quiet or take an ass kicking.

I dont really have a comment was just reading the article.

The common sense is knowing when it's okay to talk about airplane safety and when it isn't. Other topics not to talk about on planes would include guns, knives, box cutters, and being ready to meet God.

Wil and I know that it is the 21st century but that doesn't mean we're going to book a hotel room in a small southern town and expect to be treated like any other paying customers. Actually, we wouldn't even consider a vacation get-away in a small town in the deep south. (Wil and I aren't the same color.)

So that's the kind of common sense I'm talking about. The kind that gets you home with a minimum of hassle.

I remember having a similar conversation when I was a child flying with my family, I was nervous about flying and my father said where on the plane would be safest (which he claimed at the time was exactly where us kids were, but I kinda think he was just being nice) and the various safety features. I suppose people do have to be more careful now but what the family actually said seems pretty generic

This family set off alarm bells in other passengers heads. We all must be careful of what we say and do as others are extremely upset over flying in the first place,

good Lord

Times have changed. Everyone needs to watch what they say or even imply. Thank 9/11 and the people in other parts of the world that want to see all Americans dead and see Israel wiped off the face of the earth.

OMG that is a law suit waiting to happen I am sure.

The majority of the country elected a man named Barak Hussein Obama for president. (a man with a middle eastern sounding name who is a Christan) Anyone discriminating against people who look Muslim should get a clue.

For years we have been having to be careful about saying "Hi" to our friend Jack in an airport. Now we can't even talk about the parts of the plane.

D, I'm glad you love me more than luggage! LOL

There are times to fight and times to just chill out. We can feel secure in our regular stomping grounds, especially when we know the person giving the dirty look or making the bigoted remark is going to be viewed as an idiot by others who are around.

The elephant in the room is why that family should have used common sense when discussing flight safety on a plane. I haven't flown in over 20 years and even then, I was uncomfortable about it. I felt a little panic when the flight attendant starting talking about floating seat cushions and air masks. These days if I were on a plane and someone started talking about "Going to meet Jesus" I'd freak out a litte, even if he was pronouncing it "Hay-sus" and my ticket was stamped for Cabo. I'd have to ask him to clarify, just for my own peace of mind.

The day those planes smashed into the WTC and the pathetic way airport security has been handled since, does not inspire confidence in travelers. An airplane is not a place to make a stand, especially if you are part of a group that is trying very hard to be accepted for the good people the majority of them are. People must be aware that an innocent action or conversation can be misinterpreted by those outside our usual stomping grounds.

It was wrong of the airline to refuse them another flight. That we agree on, D.

Thanks for posting on Helping out one Another

Evidently, there were children with them, as well. It seems to me that I heard that the male who the woman spoke to liked to sit above the wing, usually. He believed that since that was the most structurally sound section of the plane that is also the safest. The woman apologized to him because the group was so large that the only seats left for them to be together was in the back near the engines. He said that if something went wrong that that was not the safest place to be. It all sounds like such a benign conversation, to me. I know when I fly with my aging mother to visit her sister in Nevada, my mother always has plenty to say about our seats. One seat is too close to the front. Another seat is too far back. There is never a seat that she doesn't find a problem with. Now, she is my mother. I deal with her because I love her. After all, she brought me chicken soup when I was a young boy and sick in bed. I suppose to anyone listening to our conversation (it's difficult to have a discreet conversation when boarding the plane), we might be talking about anything. My guess is that this is what happened. People are traveling and talking about their seating arrangements which isn't that uncommon. I've overheard many things on planes. Sometimes, it is just the cacophony of life that is being said in these discussions.

That's terrible and it got blown out of proportion. I'm glad they offered them an apology and free passage back finally, but it's still the initial principle.

Wow.

I've openly discussed where is the safest place to sit on a plane before, there are studies and articles in the Sky Mall mag to back it up too.

news flash: when they are real terrorists, they don't talk about which seats are safer, because EVERY seat is going to be a ticket to the boneyard.
how dumb can we get?

Since we were not there I can say it I over heard someone make mention of that I would be concerned as well. I would not approach someone I thought as a terrorist. I would do what that person did and report htme. The airline went by protocall when something has been reported.
Yes, the family was inconvenienced. But so way...so are many other Americans who have to go through a random search if they are choosen.
But did you know the airline is alos refunded that families tickets for having to change planes? Most don't know that.
Sorry but in this day and age with what has happen in history. People need to watch what they say in public. People think others aren't listening or can't hear. But they can and do.

oh gee!

news flash: when they are real terrorists, they don't talk about which seats are safer, because EVERY seat is going to be a ticket to the boneyard.
how dumb can we get?

You know what is sad? We DO KNOW what terrorists look like. We actually have criminal profiles that can be used to identify them (much like profilers can create profiles for serial killers and rapists). I remember reading a journal article on the psychology of suicide bombers. WE DO KNOW what to look for, but because of political correctness gone mad we can't use the information for fear of being seen as engaging in racial profiling (which is a different concept from criminal profiling). So instead we make 90 year old black grandmothers remove their shoes looking for shoe bombs, and we boot entire families off of airplanes for innocent comments.

Trying to catch up!

Thank you for posting this to the Gimme 10!!! Group