about the amsterdam-bombay flight that was escorted by f-16 fighters

aug 23rd, 2006

from the descriptions, it sounds like either:

a) some pakistanis (identified by their standard-issue beard and baggy-pants outfits) were on board. but why they would come to mumbai is not clear. maybe these were kashmiris who hold indian passports. perhaps these people were just using their cellphones to take photos out of the windows.

what is the deal with cellphone-cameras? i have a simple non-camera phone so i dont know how the cameras work. does the cellphone function (ie. the one that supposedly interferes with navigation) have to be on for the camera to work, or can the camera be turned on independently of the communication part? i suppose not, but just curious.

b) some indians, like the folks in new york city (this was a bunch of keralites, an actress and some entertainers who were on a tour of the US, and they got excited, waving their non-cellphone cameras around and changing seats to give each other the best views of the empire state building; they were arrested), acting like tourists, moved around and took photos of amsterdam as they were ascending. which is pretty stupid, and would be excused in white guys, but in brown guys it's a crime, let me copyright the term, "flying while brown".

actually i dont mind the extra security for brown people, especially bearded ones, given that pakistanis are the source of all terrorism in the world. indians should act doubly careful, and give no cause to attract attention. to cry racism -- as i am sure the marxist journalists of indian now will -- is idiotic.

24 August 2006 Gulf Daily News

12 arrested after US flight scare

AMSTERDAM: Dutch police arrested 12 passengers who aroused the crew's
suspicion on a US airline flight to India after it returned yesterday
to Amsterdam escorted by two F-16 jet fighters, a spokesman said.

Police spokesman Rob Staenacker said he could not disclose the
nationalities of the 12 people removed from the aircraft after it was
diverted over German airspace.

A passenger said she saw about a dozen people taken off the plane in
handcuffs and they appeared to be of South Asian origin.

A US government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said
crew members and air marshals observed the passengers attempting to
use cell phones and passing them among themselves while the airliner
was taking off.

The Defence Ministry said the Northwest Airlines Flight NW0042 was
bound for Mumbai but returned to Schiphol Airport.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=153552&Sn=WORL&IssueID=29157

Posted on Wed, Aug. 23, 2006