F-16s Scrambled In Three Cases Involving 'Suspicious' Lavatory Use

The tenth anniversary of 9/11 prompted evaluation of the measures taken in the years since to protect the US from further attacks by terrorists. But the behavior of law enforcement agencies, spring-loaded by a TSA alert for the anniversary, also produced some new examples of abuses.

The most conspicuous example is the case of Frontier Airlines Flight 623 from Denver to Detroit. Seated in row 12 were two Indian men, who it turned out had not met before the flight, and 35-year-old Shoshana Hebshi, a US citizen who describes herself as a "half-Arab, half-Jewish housewife living in suburban Ohio." When one of the men seated with her felt queasy and went to the lav, the crew felt he was going too frequently and staying too long, and called it in as suspicious activity.

F-16s were scrambled and shadowed the Airbus A318, and an armed response was prepared in Detroit. Hebshi, who is a writer and editor, shared the ordeal in real time with her Twitter followers. After the plane was escorted to an isolated area of the airport, she posted, "A little concerned about this situation. Plane moved away from terminal surrounded by cops. Crew is mum. Passengers can't get up."

Later Hebshi related, "We had been waiting on the plane for a half hour. I had to pee. I wanted to get home and see my family. And I wanted someone to tell us what was going on.

"Before I knew it, about 10 cops, some in what looked like military fatigues, were running toward the plane carrying the biggest machine guns I have ever seen." She says she couldn't believe it when the officers stormed the plane, stopped at her row, told her to stop using her phone, and yanked her from her seat.

The three travelers were handcuffed, put in the back of a squad car, detained for hours and interrogated by the FBI. Hebshi was strip-searched by a female officer. Bomb-sniffing dogs searched the plane. 113 other passengers were detained and questioned. Eventually, Hebshi says she got an apology, and was thanked for her cooperation. She recalls she was told by an agent, "'It's 9/11 and people are seeing ghosts. They are seeing things that aren't there.' He said they had to act on a report of suspicious behavior, and this is what the reaction looks like. He said there had been 50 other similar incidents across the country that day.

"I feel violated, humiliated and sure that I was taken from the plane simply because of my appearance. I believe in national security, but I also believe in peace and justice. I believe in tolerance, acceptance and trying, as hard as it may be, not to judge a person by the color of their skin or the way they dress."

Most of the players are distancing themselves from any blame in the incident. The FBI says it did not arrest or order the arrest of anyone. The pilot says he did not request the F-16 escort. The airport police are under the supervision of the Wayne County Airport Authority, which operates Detroit Metropolitan Airport. In an email to the Associated Press, spokesman Scott Wintner said airport police "responded appropriately by following protocol and treating everyone involved with respect and dignity. "

In the end, lots of jet fuel and hours of time were wasted for more than a hundred people, not counting the police, government agents and F-16 pilots, and all because someone was thought to be spending too much time in the lavatory. Two other military fighter intercepts Sunday were also bathroom-related. The AP reports three passengers who made repeated trips to the bathroom on American Flight 34 from Los Angeles were cleared after the plane safely landed at JFK.

Also Sunday, a GoJet flight from St. Louis to Washington, DC was delayed when the pilot returned to the gate and requested all passengers be re-screened after the crew found paper towels stuffed in a toilet.

On your next airline flight, if you find yourself becoming anxious when a fellow passenger pulls out the airsick bag, just be thankful he's not going to the lav.

FMI: www.tsa.gov