Before the plane took off from San Diego en route to San Jose, California, the crew member thought they heard the headscarf- wearing passenger say something like “It’s a go” to someone over her mobile phone. This was apparently enough to make them see the woman a terror suspect.
“They weren’t even sure what I said,” the passenger, Irum Abbasi, 31, a graduate student, told reporters after the incident. She claims she only said, “I’ve got to go” because the plane was ready to push back from the gate.
After patting down her head scarf and talking to her, Transportation Security Administration agents recognized the mistake and told her it was not necessary to inspect her purse or cell phone, Abbasi said.
But they refused to let her back on the plane, telling her the crew was uncomfortable with her on the flight, according to Abbasi. She was instead booked on the next flight and given free travel voucher.
“I was in tears,” Abbasi said. “I was just crying. I have lived in the United States for 10 years. I am a U.S. citizen.”
Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz said the airline has apologized to Abbasi twice, including the day of the incident. The airline also gave her a voucher for another flight, he said.
Abbasi said she gave the voucher to someone else and at this point does not want to fly Southwest again. She said she wants a written apology and a guarantee that the crew will be disciplined.
Abbasi, who is originally from Pakistan and a mother of three, said the verbal apology “doesn’t make me feel better. This time they said we weren’t comfortable with the head scarf. Next time, they won’t be comfortable with my accent or they won’t be comfortable with my South Asian heritage.”
Mainz said the airlines is looking into the matter but does not disclose internal actions.
“Southwest has a 40-year history of treating all of our customers with great respect and care,” Mainz said. “We treat all our customers the same and we think all of our employees do a very good job of that.”
Hanif Mohebi, director of the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said his group believes she was targeted because of her head scarf and wants to meet with the airline to ensure it does not happen again.
Abbasi attributed her removal to growing anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S. and said that it was a direct result of the congressional hearing called by Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., on the radicalization of U.S. Muslims.
Source: IslamToday