Taking advantage of a $50 round-trip special, my wife, I, and another couple booked tickets from San Francisco to Las Vegas for this past weekend. When we checked in at the gate, we got a strange look across the counter and were told to sit down while she worked out some issue. I initially thought there was a problem with our Travelocity reservation or with her computer. I watched as she made some phone calls. When the second agent continued to process check-ins while our agent continued to make phone calls, we returned to the counter to see what was going on. She said emphatically, “There’s no problem, sir, just sit down right there (pointing to a nearby seat) and I’ll be with you in a moment.” The direction to stay seated and her tone suggested otherwise, but we did as we were told.

A few minutes later the SF Police arrived along with an FAA employee and our counter agent. The agent pointed us out and the police officer pulled us aside for questioning. Other officers were stationed nearby, lest we make a run for it. I quickly realized this was something a little more serious than being caught with nail clippers in a carry-on. But after asking us a few questions, the officer decided there must have been a mistake of some sort, and he explained that all four of us had been tagged by the airline as being on the FBI’s “No Fly” list. Given that there’s apparently only about 500 names on the list, the check-in of four “suspects” at once triggered quite a few bells. The officer said that when he’s previously been called in it’s been because a passenger had the same name as a suspected terrorist.

In our case, they ultimately determined that none of us was, in fact, on The List. Someone at National apparently made a mistake or thought all four of our names were close enough to those on the FBI’s list. We were cleared and made our flight without delay (though I’m thinking a few other passengers might have been nervous boarding with us after being rounded up by the police).