Passengers Feared He Was A Terrorist

In yet another sad example of how the acts of few can lead to the stereotyping of many, a Spanish university professor says he was briefly forced off an airliner in Mallorca last month, after passengers were frightened by his long beard and dark complexion that made him appear to be Muslim.

Pablo Gutierrez Vega told the Associated Press he felt humiliated when three German passengers on an August 30 Air Berlin flight approached him during a layover in Palma de Mallorca, and asked to search his carry-on luggage. The men told Gutierrez Vega other passengers were afraid he was a terrorist.

"They treated me like an Islamic terrorist because of my appearance," Gutierrez Vega said, in an account posted this week on the website of El Pais.

A representative with the airline confirmed the incident took place. "I acknowledged that we contributed to this man going through something very unpleasant," said Alvaro Middelmann, Air Berlin's managing director for Spain and Portugal.

While he initially thought the men were undercover police officers, Gutierrez Vega soon realized the men had no legal authority to demand a search -- and refused to hand over his bags. The incident escalated to the point the pilot approached the group, and took the professor off the plane to speak with him in private.

"The pilot said the passengers believed I was a Muslim," Gutierrez Vega said.

The pilot apologized for the behavior of the three men, and said he was willing to take them off the plane before continuing on to Germany. He also offered to keep the man's carry-on luggage in the cockpit, to calm other passengers... which is what Gutierrez Vega eventually did.

"I didn't want to cause any problems," said the man after the incident.

FMI: www.airberlin.com