News: Passengers forced off holiday flight at Malaga Airport
Flights > News > # 917 (21/08/2006)
The state of paranoia among British holidaymakers reached new heights last week when two men of Asian appearance were ordered off a flight to Manchester after passengers told the cabin crew that were behaving suspiciously.
The flight carrying 150 passengers was due to leave Malaga airport in the early hours of Wednesday (August 16) morning, but was delayed for three hours as security checks were carried out. The two men, who were British citizens, were allegedly questioned for several hours before being cleared to return home on Monarch’s next flight to Manchester the following day. A Monarch spokesman said: “There were two passengers on the flight who came to the attention of the other people because they were apparently acting suspiciously. The flight attendants were sufficiently concerned to alert the crew who in turn informed the security authorities at Malaga airport.” Passengers on the flights reportedly became concerned because the men were “scruffy”, wearing “heavy clothing” and speaking in Arabic.
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When I first heard this story, I had assumed, perhaps with my own discriminatory bias, that this kind of farce could only happen in America, yet it actually turns out that the incident took place on board a plane belonging to the thoroughly British (at least in branding if not ownership) Monarch Airlines. This comes after a Muslim Canadian doctor was forced off a United Airlines flight at Denver airport for reciting a prayer before takeoff - something which is routine procedure for many people of all faiths.
There is a line between necessary vigilance and racist paranoia, but this line was definitely crossed on the Monarch flight to Manchester. It is easy for passengers to say "they were inappropriately dressed" (just exactly what is appropriate attire for a heavily air-conditioned holiday flight heading back to rain drenched Manchester anyway?), or that they were "acting suspiciously" (shock, horror, they weren’t speaking English!), but the stock excuse that airlines have to "act in the interests of safety and security" cannot be used to eject legitimate passengers just because some of their fellow travellers don't like the look of them. Such discriminatory tactics should be left to nightclub bouncers, not the crew of a flight from Malaga.
Terrorism feeds on ignorance, yet when commonsense goes out the window, such ignorance can only be multiplied further.
