>SNIP>>
>>>Passing a note to flight crew *IS* making a big fuss.
>>>But the point I was making was that as a highjacker I would be "smart" to make a fuss, if only to firmly put all attention elsewhere. I did not intend to connect the real event with a possible ploy.
>>
>>Except that all through this you've been arguing that the reason the Imams were ejected was because one passenger made a fuss. The fact is they were ejected because the crew felt their actions were suspicious. Had the crew decided otherwise, the fact that the passenger passed a note likely would have amounted to nothing.
>>
>>I still contend that the crew has the right to make those decisions. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that have that obligation.
>
>Once confronted with such a note the crew/pilot HAS TO DO SOMETHING. So we agree on that.
>I don't think the crew would have done anything without the note. I've not seen crew hang around any gate long enough to see much of anything going on in the vicinity.
>
>And while it is the crew's (pilot's in fact, I'm pretty sure) responsibility to do everything they must to ensure a safe flight, I believe that people who are afraid of other passengers on the flight ought to be the one(s) asked to take some other flight if it gets to someone being asked to leave the plane. That addresses the fear in the most equitable way possible, and in the safest way possible.
>All passengers are through thorough security by the time they are at the gate. Even if the way someone acts gives me the willies, the idea that they therefore jeopardize my safety is a problem *I* have, not the willies-giving person nor the airline's.
>There is no reasonable logic in removing the person who gives me the creeps from the flight. There is good logic in removing me from the flight if I complain about a person making me nervous.

I still think you're missing the point. Why should the crew tell the other passenger to take another flight if telling him/her that the situation has been looked into and there is no cause for concern ends the issue.

You seem to be saying that as soon as someone raises a concern, he/she should be automatically asked to leave. That's utter nonsense. Why shouldn't someone who has a concern raise it with the crew? It is then up to the crew/pilot to make a decision on the proper course of action.

This idea that nobody has a right to say anything, and that if they do they are automatically to be considered a subject of contempt is ridiculous.