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American defends removal of agent from flight
Islamic group demands apology; incident shows airlines' dilemma of security vs. bias
12/28/2001
WASHINGTON – Was it a knee-jerk reaction to a passenger of Middle Eastern
descent or a logical move by a worried pilot?
In either case, an incident at Baltimore-Washington International Airport on
Christmas Day highlights the security-vs.-discrimination tightrope airlines must
walk during these unsettled times. An Arab-American Secret Service agent who boarded American Airlines Flight
363 to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport was told to leave the plane on
orders of the captain. American spokesman Todd Burke said Thursday that the
armed agent, part of President Bush's security detail, was refused passage not
because of his ethnicity but because the captain was unable to confirm that the
agent "was, in fact, who he said he was." In a letter Thursday to American chairman Donald Carty, however, a
Washington-based advocacy group demanded that the airline apologize to the agent
"for the humiliation and damage to his reputation caused by the captain's
discriminatory actions." In the letter, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said it was
"concerned that American Airlines would arbitrarily deny boarding to a Muslim
passenger, particularly someone who has one of our nation's highest security
clearances, merely because of his religion or ethnicity." Nothing arbitrary
Mr. Burke said there was nothing arbitrary about the captain's
actions. The agent initially was booked on a flight that was delayed by
mechanical problems, Mr. Burke said. Before boarding, the agent had completed
paperwork required of law enforcement officers who wish to carry weapons in the
cabin.
The agent was placed on Flight 363, again having completed the necessary
paperwork. The captain of this flight, however, noticed inconsistencies between
the two forms, Mr. Burke said, raising questions in his mind about the agent's
identity. The agent was told to leave the plane. By the time his identity was confirmed
with the Secret Service, the plane had left, and there were no more flights to
D/FW that evening, Mr. Burke said. The agent left Baltimore on an American
flight Wednesday. "This absolutely had nothing to do with the ethnicity of this agent," Mr.
Burke said. "This was about being sure we had a secure flight." He would not
disclose the nature of the alleged discrepancies between the forms. The agent, contacted Thursday in Crawford, Texas, where Mr. Bush is
vacationing, declined to comment. 'Great concern'
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic
Relations, to which the agent complained, said the incident is "of great concern
to the Muslim community." He asked that the agent's name not be revealed for
security reasons.
Since Sept. 11, the group has received more than 160 reports of ethnic
profiling by airlines, Mr. Hooper said. On Dec. 18, for example, a Muslim woman
was forced to remove her religiously mandated head scarf – known as a
hijab – at the Baltimore airport. Apart from being discriminatory, such profiling "gives a false sense of
security," Mr. Hooper said. The public would be better served if airlines
increased their use of explosives-detection devices and took other tangible
security measures, he said. James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute in Washington, said he
has "difficulty imagining that a Secret Service agent would be sloppy with
procedures, especially someone on the president's detail." "Our watchwords all along have been, 'Security, yes, discrimination, no,' "
Dr. Zogby said. American is only days removed from a harrowing incident aboard one of its
trans-Atlantic flights. On Dec. 22, a 28-year-old British man attempted to
ignite explosives in his shoes but was subdued by passengers and flight
attendants. Authorities say that the man, Richard Reid, may have ties to Osama
bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. Federal regulations give the captain the ultimate responsibility for an
aircraft's safety. The captain of Flight 363 acted properly, Mr. Burke said.
"During this time of heightened security, we feel that absolutely no one is
above the approved security procedures," he said. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Paul Turk said, "With the exception
of federal air marshals, there is no mandate that requires the airlines to allow
passengers to carry weapons. That decision is an airline decision." Mr. Turk added, however, that airlines have been cautioned "not to target or
discriminate" against passengers based on race, ethnicity, national origin,
religion, or name. The Secret Service is investigating the Baltimore incident, said spokesman
Jim Macklin. "I just don't know at this point" whether what occurred might
represent a case of ethnic profiling, he said. Staff writer Carolyn Barta in Crawford, Texas, contributed to this
report.