Plane Ridiculous

The Washington Post had an editorial about the Minnesota deplaning incident yesterday that I find extremely fatuous.

Let me quote the heart of the editorial.

Many facts of the case are still the subject of debate, but we know this much: Last week, six imams heading home from a conference in Minnesota unrolled rugs before boarding a US Airways flight to Arizona and said their evening prayers. When they boarded, they sat in different sections of the aircraft. Another passenger passed a note to a flight attendant expressing discomfort that Arabic men were moving around the airplane. The captain threw them off, and the local police and the FBI detained them for questioning. The imams were later cleared for flying.

That’s not all we know, though. There’s one important fact the Post left out that, for me, makes all the difference in the world.

They asked for seat-belt extenders and, once they had received them, placed them under their seats.

The Post attributes this to “some accounts” but not even the Imams deny they asked for and received the belts. That the newspaper discounts the reports of two or three witnesses is pretty silly. We could as easily say that according to “some accounts”, the Imams rolled out their prayer rugs and said their evening prayers since we have only eyewitness accounts to that as well.

Here’s why the extenders are important: They are weapons.

I’m a big guy and every time I fly, I need a seat-belt extender. I have ben keenly aware since 9/11 of exactly how I could use that extender as either a ranged weapon (by using it flail-like with the buckle-end as a very effective head) or in melee (by wrapping the belt around my hand and using the buckle as an improsived set ot brass knuckles). I realize that with fewer Air Marshals in the air and with anything approximating a weapon allowed on the airplane (save the possibility of a gun in the locked pilot’s cabin), my extender may be the most dangerous and most readily-available weapon in case of an attempted hijacking.

I am quite sure that any person who’s thought about being on a plane could come to the same realization. I’m absolutely positive that would-be terrorists have already figured that out.

And here’s another thing about extenders. You don’t ever have to give a reason why you need one. I have seen people who to my eyes were slender enough to fit inside the buckle get an extender without comment. I dare say that in today’s world of sue-happy and easily-offended passengers, you won’t find many fight attendants who will ever ask why a passenger needs an extender. Can you imagine the outcry if some diligent attended asked someone who was overweight, but carried it pretty well and was wearing flatteringly-cut clothing why they needed an extender? It certainly would not be pretty.

So flight attendants give the passengers what they needs and they only show concern when the passengers don’t use what they are given how they should be used.

Another question: do you believe the Imams would have drawn as much suspicion if they had simply worn the extenders instead of tucking them under their seats?

I sure don’t.

Here’s how the Post closes the editorial:

US Airways stands by its decision to boot the men from the plane, saying that, taken as a whole, their behavior after boarding was suspect. But the airline and the authorities who detained the imams have questions to answer publicly about the incident. Were they switching seats suspiciously? Did the imams have round-trip or one-way tickets? Did the men ask for seat-belt extenders, and if so did they give any reason?

Answers to these questions might help explain the airline and official actions, even if they do not end up justifying those actions. Pilots and others have to make difficult decisions when time is short and evidence tough to verify. But complete information on this case also could demonstrate that it stemmed from nothing more than a nervous passenger fueling unfair suspicion after seeing the men at prayer. And that’s a scary possibility. America can’t become a country so locked by fear that those who unfurl a prayer rug automatically become suspects.

Actually, no, the airline doesn’t have to ask these questions, nor do the authorities. The statements of the witnesses are part of the official record now. They are, consistent with FOIA regulations, a matter of public record. If the Post wants them, they can darned-well get them themselves. From what I can see, no one outside the Professional Muslim Grievance Cryers (who I am quite certain were tipped to this story even before it happened) and the MSM has even the smallest twinge of concern about the actions taken by the pilots and crew.

A final note. I heard an eyewitness report from one of the women on the flight last evening on the radio. She said that when the men were removed from the plane, after a considerable delay, the passengers openly cheered. That doesn’t seem like they were concerned that the airline overreacted. It definitely doesn’t indicate that the incident stemmed from “a nervous passenger fueling unfair suspicion”. It could have been that most folks were cheering because the flight was finally going to get in the air. I think it’s more likely that they were glad to see that someone was willing to take action when they saw a plethora of suspicious and actions that any reasonable person would have seen as, at the very least provocational. That’s another tidbit that I’ve not seen reported and probably should be because it tells us something I think is important.

Those cheers demonstrate, at least to me, that the average American can recognize simple common sense when it comes to airline security. Rather than seeing that as a “scary possibility”, I see it as a very good sign. Perhaps once we can settle the delicate sensibilities of the Post’s editorial staff, we can begin to apply some of that common sense to the rest of our airport security measures. We will all be far better off for it and, just perhaps, it will send a very clear message to American Muslims that we are serious about keeping everyone, including them, as safe and secure as we can.

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Category: Fighting the Islamists, Oh, THAT liberal media.