Paranoia Strikes British Airliner
A 150 passenger mutiny occurred this morning on an Airbus A320 right before it was set to leave from Costa del Sol. The 150-strong were demanding that two men, of Asian decent, who they believed were speaking Arabic, be thrown off the flight.
(Daily Mail) 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.
A half hour later the police removed the two men from the plane and swept the cargo and luggage deeming the Airbus clear of any threats. The men were not said to have any links to terrorism.
I’m for profiling at airports and my suspicions would be raised if I were aboard a flight with Arabic speaking men but this is something that makes me worried. Whether justified or not this type of panic and complete paranoia is something we all should take into account in our fight against terrorism. We do not want another McCarthy type era and we haven’t reached the point of WWII interment camps; so let’s all take a step back and try to keep calm.
