Originally Posted by Doppy
Yes. There was a plane diverted not too long ago because someone found the letters "BOB" written on an airsick bag or magazine or something and assumed that it meant "bomb on board."
I've flown and known other people on the plane before. And I've probably even made hand signals to them.
Seems like these guys were guilty of FWA (flying while arab). Did the old DWB (driving while black) cops get jobs as air marshals?
I guess the lesson here is that when you fly with people you know, especially if they have dark skin, don't make hand signals to communicate, shout loudly across the cabin.
So we should just pretend that the 9/11 hijackers were all white guys from Des Moines, Iowa in order not to offend people's sensitivities? There still are terrorists who want to kill Americans. The FAM took the circumstances into account and had the flight diverted as a cautionary measure. Thus far, 100% of the instances of terrorists using US domestic commercial jets as missles have been perpetrated by people who fit a very narrow profile. IMHO, that puts anti-terror actions into a completely different category from the "DWB" phenomenon.