Pilot channels Juan Williams, refuses to fly Muslims

Also, we can't encourage a "see something, say something" society and then get upset when people respond.

 

They could just be trying out for the Amazing Race!

 

I'm sure there's extra nerves in the airline industry right now. But they should relax. If Al Queda is going to strike, it will do it quite a while from now, when people could be on not such high alert. Meantime, it will be fun to see how Delta tries to suppress evidence on national security grounds when those two Muslims sue them.

 

That is a side of this I really had not thought about. Outstanding point. Since I really don't know the facts I will not form an opinion, unlike all the "Let them ride a camel" idiots that were commenting on the Yahoo thread.

 

Since airlines can't legaly racially profile people, they leave it up to the passengers.

 

Mr. Met says, "if you see something, say something":

 

I'm not necessarily blaming them if they popped off about the way they were treated. I'd say its understandable. I'd also say it's understandable if somebody (or somebodies) with a room temperature IQ over-reacted to what they heard.

One other thing that would be interesting to find out would be to see if Delta tried to talk the pilot into essentially violating their own security policies and let the two guys stay on the plane.

As was mentioned, you don't bring a plane back to the gate because you don't feel like flying somebody.

If he followed the Delta rules for handling a perceived security threat and Delta tried to force him to ignore those rules the airline could be sued by the two men they kicked off the flight AND the other passengers at the same time.

 

That's fine, except for the part where the guys got screened two or three times and still got cleared to fly.

Like others, I'm sure there is something else to this story. Maybe the pilot was stressed out and overworked and had a breakdown. Maybe the passengers objected to the multiple screenings. Maybe the other passengers were the xenophobic ones, and the pilot was worried there would be a fight on board. Definitely interested to see some follow-up stories.

 

I find it highly unlikely that the pilot made this decision unprovoked. I think we'll eventually find out that the other passengers basically forced him to take the plane back to the gate.

 

So, mob rule prevails over common sense and established security procedures? I sure hope not.

 

From what I've seen, I trust mob rule over TSA procedures.

 

Just saw a CNN piece with the caption that the pax felt uncomfortable.

I'm guessing it was the lesser of two evil. I don't know the type of plane, but ASA typically flies CRJ-200s, seating up to 50. If it was full, and it could've been 48 to 2. The pilot took the path of least resistance.

And what if something HAD happened? Then everyone is up in arms about they had THREE chances to remove these guys.