Speaking only for myself, yes, that is a thought that's always in the back of my mind. Though I'm neither an Arab nor a Muslim, being of south Asian origin there is always the risk of being looked at "suspiciously". I try to be proactive and attempt to minimize this "risk" by engaging in some small talk or lighthearted banter with the gate agent or fellow pax during boarding.

I can relay one incident which saddens me when I think about it--

I was walking into a small boarding area at my home airport before a flight. A passenger of similar ethnic origin was also there. I didn't know him at all. As I walked by, he happened to look up at me, and we just traded a small smile and courtesy nod, the same as what one might do when passing by someone at a mall entrance, or sitting down next to someone else on a bus, plane, waiting room, theater, whatever.

It dawned on me a few seconds later that if someone with a racist/bigoted/paranoid streak in them had happened to witness it, he/she could interpret that as some sort of nefarious, covert, or "suspicious" behavior, especially since we had no other contact or communication after that moment, simply because we looked the same.

I literally felt sick to my stomach with apprehension until we started taxiing out and nothing had happened that I finally relaxed.

Was I overly paranoid? Probably. But the simple fact that I, a US citizen with a pile of security credentials and working in, of all things, aviation safety and security issues, could even have such a thought, really really saddens me.

I wonder how many instances of "suspicious behavior" that people have reported to authorities were really just normal interactions between two people that are totally irrelevant and totally forgettable, except that they occurred between "mideastern-looking" individuals?

Yeah, those darn kids. Daring to FWB.

You're new around these here parts, ain't ya?

Now, having said all that, I will be the first to declare mea culpa if it turns out that there was something more to this than printed. But past performance, while no guarantee of future results, would indicate that this incident is a mixture of two parts paranoia and two parts racism. And we all know that four parts of anything exceeds the 3.4 limit.

Mike

Nope, been professionally flying and involved in aviation safety and risk management for going on 30 years now... I'll always take the word and decisions of a professional flight deck crew over the TSA, passengers, administrators, or anyone else involved in an incident.

Really? Always? So, a flight crew can never be wrong? Wow, hadn't realized that they were that infallible.

Not when it comes to concerns over a flight safety issue involving passengers -- nope, I'll stand behind the decision of the flight crew every time. In this particular incident, two flight crews (four professional pilots) felt it significant that they chose not to take the flight until additional screening was performed.

There obviously is more to the story than has been reported in the media or released by the airline or TSA.

Maybe in flight safety matters. But as far as deciding which passengers are safe or not, I don't think so.

And yet you fail to acknowledge that a crew that did fly out, so they must have felt safe enough to fly! --> with the result being NOTHING HAPPENED!

You are also wrong in that TSA did do an additional screen and found NOTHING WRONG!

You are, of course, absolutely right. I will edit my post. I absolutely have no idea where that came from.

Yes, the third crew did take the flight after the additional screening was completed. I never said that the TSA didn't perform additional screening... Just because nothing was found during that screening doesn't mean that there wasn't suspicious behavior on the part of the individuals that created the initial attention. We simply don't have all of the information.

I do -- all flight crew members have received additional training training since 9/11 related to behavioral analysis and evaluation of passengers. If the two flight deck crew members were in agreement that something wasn't quite right with the behavior of the individuals in the group on that flight -- I trust their evaluation. Furthermore, two additional flight deck crewmembers came to the same conclusion when provided the information (that we do not have to evaluate) regarding the group of passengers.

Maybe the pilot saw them, mistook them for the Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band, and was afraid they'd try to live up to their urban legend fame and tip the plane mid flight by all jumping from one side to the other?

Here's the bottom line...

If I, as the PIC (pilot-in-command) -- or any other pilot serving in that role on an aircraft -- makes a decision that a particular passenger shouldn't fly, no matter what the reason might be....that passenger or passengers will not fly. The captain of the aircraft is the ultimate authority and decision maker -- period.

The passenger may not feel that the decision is warranted or fair -- but too bad, they board and fly in the aircraft at the Captain's pleasure.

Countless passengers (of all races, colors, creeds, and national origins) have been ejected from an aircraft by the flight crew for a number of reasons. It might be intoxication or under the influence of drugs, a medical condition that renders the passenger unstable for air transport, abusive behavior or language, inappropriate dress, poor hygeine to the extreme, too large to fit into a seat on a full flight (should have bought two seats) -- or any other reason that could be attributed to potential flight safety or negative to other passenger's comfort and quality of air travel. Suspicious behavior by middle eastern males could definitely trigger such a decision by the PIC -- it is what it is...

In this case, at least the PIC called for additional screening -- and didn't just eject the group and continue with the flight. Other PICs might have done just that!

So can the PIC refuse to carry people of a certain color or ethnicity because he/she only wants say white people on the flight?

What do you think? :rolleyes:

I have no idea. What do you think?