CNN reports that a Muslim-American family was removed from an AirTran Airway flight on Wednesday after passengers became alarmed hearing members of that family discuss the 'safest' seating locations on the airplane. Even after having been cleared by the FBI, AirTran refused to rebook the family on another flight and has prohibited them from traveling with the airline again.
These are the moments when, as an American, one feels shame. This is not the way to treat our fellow citizens or, for that matter, visitors to our country. According to a statement by one of the eight traveling family members, "[They] were (discussing whether it was safest to sit near) the wing, or the engine or the back or the front, ..." This is not such an unusual conversation among literate people, even while traveling aboard an airplane. Popular Mechanics cites a statistic showing that people sitting at the back of a plane have a forty percent greater survival rate in an airplane crash as compared to their fellow passengers. I've had similar discussions with friends and family members regarding airplane seating locations.
This family - and a Muslim friend incidentally traveling on that same flight and who had been seen speaking with family members - had their travel plans interrupted, were questioned by the FBI and barred from flying AirTran for ... having a discussion about statistics? These were sane, rational people having a possibly warranted conversation. However, the paranoid, non-Muslim people surrounding them saw terrorists.
This is a sad and shameful day.
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