New Airline Suit: A Look Back

Six Iraqi men from Dearborn have filed a suit against American Airlines for discrimination. A look back at a previous report raises some questions.

DETROIT (AP) -- Six men of Iraqi descent who were heading home from doing training for the U.S. military have sued American Airlines, saying employees detained and publicly humiliated them after another passenger voiced suspicions.

From September 1. It appears that one passenger had an issue and the initial narrative suggests she wanted off the plane after security told her the men were not acting suspiciously. The flight was then canceled due to an airport curfew.

SAN DIEGO (AP) - A woman who got off an American Airlines plane after expressing concerns about traveling with a group of Arabic-speaking Iraqi men said she regretted the men were later questioned but she could not help being nervous.

The six men, some of whom are U.S. citizens, were on their way home to
Detroit after training U.S. Marines at Camp Pendleton.

Leigh Robbins, 35, elected to get off American Airlines Flight 590 from San Diego to Chicago late Tuesday with her two young sons after one of the men went into the restroom and started «clunking around» before the plane left the gate.

One of the men made small talk with her about being in the military, and she reported her concerns about the group to airport security before boarding. Security officers told her the men were not behaving suspiciously and left without talking to them.

«I do feel very bad but I was just protecting my tiny little family,» Robbins told The San Diego Union-Tribune on Friday. «All I could think of was 9/11.

Pilots decided to turn the plane around without taking off after taxiing from the gate. The reasons for the decision were unclear.

A call seeking comment from American Airlines was not immediately returned Friday. Airline spokesman Tim Wagner said earlier this week only that the «incident» that began in the departure lounge had been ongoing and the flight crew felt it needed to be resolved on the ground.

After turning around, the flight missed the airport's 11:30 p.m. take-off curfew and all passengers were sent off the plane. The men were then taken aside and questioned by airport police.

David Al Watan, 30, of Dearborn, Michigan, said he and the five other men had no idea there was a problem until they returned to the terminal. He said they were baffled about why they were being questioned and felt embarrassed.

«Everyone who didn't look like us went off and did whatever they wanted,» said Al Watan, a U.S. citizen who says he fled Iraq in 1991 and loves his adopted country.

«I would die for it,» Al Watan told the newspaper.

A lawyer representing Al Watan and the five other men involved in the incident said the group wanted an apology from the airline.

«They can't just assume someone has a bomb strapped to them just because they are Arabic,» attorney Lawrence Garcia said.

Comments

[Fred Beloit]

I love the U.S.A. and I'll sue anybody who doesn't love me back.

[tsarbomba]

If those six men want "all" Americans to understand that "not all" people from the Middle East are terrorists, then also, THEY must understand that (post 9-11), "some" American airline passengers feel considerable apprehension when a group of Middle Eastern men board a flight with them. I don't know for certain what kind of training they were providing (sensitivity training, I'll wager lol!) but it doesn't take a freaking rocket scientist to understand the flying public's concerns.
Oh, and, "I would die for it," is not exactly a good choice of words, considering the situation.

[allahsfavoriteporkchop]

My Mo Bro's need to lighten up.

[lonetown]

I guess they became Americanized enough to figure out how to sue.