Nine Muslim passengers were removed from an AirTran flight flying out of Ronald Reagan airport in Washington DC, after some of the removed passengers were discussing where the safest place to sit on a plane might be. The passenger were on their wait to Orlando, but were removed from the plane before take-off. The passengers, all American-born citizens of the United States except one, expressed frustration about not being able to re-board once the FBI had cleared them. AirTran initially said that their employees who removed the Muslim passengers were simply following protocol and did not do anything wrong during the incident, later apologized to the removed passengers, calling it a “misunderstanding.” Kashif Irfan, 34, one of the detained passengers, a doctor residing in Alexandria, Va., said by phone: “We are very grateful for the apology, and we’re impressed by the outpouring of respect that AirTran has demonstrated after the fact. We have not ruled out the possibility of legal action.”
