A US airline on Friday apologized to nine Muslim passengers it ordered off a flight a day earlier, but defended its actions as necessary to ensure safety.
Airline officials ordered nine traditionally dressed Muslims, including three children, off an AirTran flight that was to have left Reagan National Airport in Washington on Thursday afternoon, the Washington Post reported.
Two passengers apparently complained to flight staff after overhearing a suspicious remark among the Muslim travelers, the newspaper reported on Friday.
Later on Friday, AirTran said it regretted the incident and apologized to all the flight’s passengers, including the Muslims kicked off the flight, but said “while ultimately this issue proved to be a misunderstanding, the steps taken were necessary.”
“We apologize to all of the passengers — to the nine who had to undergo extensive interviews from the authorities and to the 95 who ultimately made the flight. Nobody on Flight 175 reached their destination on time on New Year’s Day, and we regret it,” the airline said in a statement.
Airtran said it had refunded airfare to those excluded from the flight, would reimburse them for the costs of booking a flight on another airline and had offered to pay for their return flight.
All but one of the group were US-born citizens, and they were headed to Orlando, Florida, for a religious retreat. The group included an anesthesiologist and a lawyer. The children were aged seven, four and two.
Airport officials later cleared the group to travel and FBI agents saw the incident as a misunderstanding, an airport official said.
Kashif Irfan, one of the Muslim passengers, told the Post that the problem unfolded after his brother, Atif, and the brother’s wife discussed the safest place to sit on an airplane. The brother apparently looked out the window and saw the jet engines next to his window.
Fellow passengers apparently felt threatened and complained to the pilot.
A feud has broken out between the top leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on whether to maintain close ties with Russia. The AfD leader Alice Weidel this week slammed planned visits to Russia by some party lawmakers, while coleader Tino Chrupalla voiced a defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unusual split comes at a time when mainstream politicians have accused the anti-immigration AfD of acting as stooges for the Kremlin and even spying for Russia. The row has also erupted in a year in which the AfD is flying high, often polling above the record 20 percent it
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
The latest batch from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s e-mails illustrates the extraordinary scope of his contacts with powerful people, ranging from a top Trump adviser to Britain’s ex-prince Andrew. The US House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on trying to force release of evidence gathered on Epstein by law enforcement over the years — including the identities of the men suspected of participating in his alleged sex trafficking ring. However, a slew of e-mails released this week have already opened new windows to the extent of Epstein’s network. These include multiple references to US President Donald
CHARGES: The former president, who maintains his innocence, was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for a failed coup bid, as well as an assassination plot Far-right former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is running out of options to avoid prison, after judges on Friday rejected his appeal against a 27-year sentence for a botched coup bid. Bolsonaro lost the 2022 elections and was convicted in September for his efforts to prevent Brazlian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking power after the polls. Prosecutors said the scheme — which included plans to assassinate Lula and a top Brazilian Supreme Court judge — failed only due to a lack of support from military top brass. A panel of Supreme Court judges weighing Bolsonaro’s appeal all voted to uphold
RSS