Frontier Airlines weighed in on who’s responsible for passenger Shoshana Hebshi’s detention, saying it wasn’t them. Spokesman Peter Kowalchuk told The Associated Press the suspicious persons report referenced “two men and only two men.” He said authorities who boarded the plane Sunday did not consult the crew about removing three passengers — the two men and Hebshi — from the flight.
Both Transportation Security Administration agents and airport police responded to the report of suspicious activity, according to a statement Frontier made earlier in the week.
WCAA, TSA Dispute Frontier’s Report
Wayne County Airport Authority disputes Frontier’s report. Spokesman Scott Witner said Wednesday that the directions came from the flight crew.
The TSA also blames the flight crew, with spokesman Jim Fotenos saying Frontier reported three suspicious passengers onboard during the flight, according to Detroit Free Press.
FBI Denies Responsibility for Strip-Search
According to the FBI, Hebshi sat next to two Indian men, one of whom used the bathroom repeatedly. The other used the bathroom once. The report of suspicious passengers resulted from the mens’ bathroom use.
When uniformed police boarded the plane, they cuffed the two men and Hebshi. Hebshi is an American of Jewish-Arab descent and believes she was cuffed, detained in a holding cell, strip-searched, and interrogated over a four hour period due to her ethnicity.
FBI and Department of Homeland Security officials interrogated the three, clearing all of wrongdoing. The FBI denies responsibility for the strip-searches.
Shoddy Police Work?
The original news reports suggest the investigation unfolded like a bad game of telephone. 9 News reported Sunday that Kowalchuk attributed the F-16s and subsequent investigation to suspicions about two people “taking an extraordinarily long time” in the restroom.
Unspecified “law enforcement sources” allegedly told ABC News that same night the suspicious behavior consisted of two-people “making-out” in the bathroom in mid-flight.
All parties now agree there was no pair in the bathroom together, no amorous excess; only three strangers in row 12, two of whom needed to relieve themselves during the flight.
Is the make-out story, quickly debunked by the FBI, a mistake? Could it be a cover-up to justify Hebshi’s unwarranted detention, strip-search and interrogation?
Assuming the call for assistance was recorded, it should be revealing. Who made the call and what exactly was said is the starting point for unraveling why one passenger’s airsickness snowballed into another’s civil rights case.