What about the fact that they asked for seatbelt extensions which they didn't need and put them on the floor by their feet? They had one-way tickets (always a flag since 9/11). They switched seats. They all moved around the plane (similar to the hijackers on 9/11). They expressed disdain for the American effort in Iraq and spoke well of Saddam Hussein. All warning signs. If all of that is true (impossible to know for sure at this time), it's no wonder both the passengers and the crew were worried. Still, any passenger can request to be let off a plane if they are scared or worried for their safety and any and all passengers could have done so. I still support the crew though in their decision. It is their right to make the call as to whether or not anyone can fly. They can refuse service to anyone. Just like a restaurant. It is not a right (in which case it would be a totally different situation).



>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.