Man ejected from plane for praying?

[CCTAU 3,482]

I don't have a problem with this. The man should have entered the bathroom or sat down. But had this been a muslim, would they have thrown the man off the plane? I think for fear of being called anti-muslim, they would not have.

Praying Passenger is Removed From Plane at New York Airport

Thursday, April 17, 2008

NEW YORK — A passenger who left his seat to pray in the back of a plane before it took off, ignoring flight attendants' orders to return, was removed by an airport security guard, a witness and the airline said.

The Orthodox Jewish man, who wore a full beard, a black hat and a long black coat, stood near the lavatories and began saying his prayers while the United Airlines jet was being boarded at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday night, fellow passenger Ori Brafman said.

When flight attendants urged the man, who was carrying a religious book, to take his seat, he ignored them, Brafman said. Two friends, who were seated, tried to tell the attendants that the man couldn't stop until his prayers were over in about 2 minutes, he said.

"He doesn't respond to them, but his friends explain that once you start praying you can't stop," said Brafman, who was seated three rows away.

When the man finally stopped praying, he explained that he couldn't interrupt his religious ritual and wasn't trying to be rude. But the attendants summoned a guard to remove him, said Brafman, a writer who had been visiting New York to talk to publishers.

The plane, Flight 9 to San Francisco, took off without the man. It landed at its destination as scheduled, Brafman said by telephone from his home there.

Robin Urbanski, a spokeswoman for United Airlines, a subsidiary of UAL Corp. with headquarters in Chicago, confirmed the man was taken off the plane and put on another flight Thursday morning.

Urbanksi said flights cannot depart if all passengers are not in their seats, which risks a delay, and it is important that passengers listen to the instructions of the flight crew.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs area airports, and the Transportation Safety Administration, which handles airport security, said Thursday they weren't involved in the incident.

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[TDAuburn 2]

I'm guessing praying had nothing to do with it... when the plane is about to take off, you get in your seat and fasten the seatbelt. Simple.

[quietfan 233]

Somehow I don't think an infinitely patient, compassionate, understanding God would be nearly as concerned about the interruption as the prayer seemed to be.

[OldNewby 27]

What we have here is bad scheduling and a failure in timing.

[aubiescottie 1]

Regardless of how long the prayer takes, the real issue is that the man didn't respond to instructions so how can the flight attendants be sure he's going to respond when the plane is in the air in a possible emergency. It was the right thing to do to take him off, explain to him how its a saftey issue, and stick him on a later flight.

[otterinbham 0]

So. Why didn't the guy pray BEFORE he got on the plane? Why did he pick that moment to start?

[Tigermike 3,661]

So. Why didn't the guy pray BEFORE he got on the plane? Why did he pick that moment to start?

He didn't see the six Islam, imams until he got on the plane?