Two passengers - reportedly a woman and a man - were kicked off a Thomas Cook Airlines flight before its take off from Turkey on Friday after complaining about flying with Muslim men wearing white prayer shawls.
P.S.: Turkey is a Muslim-majority country in the Middle East, don't let its European looks fool you.
The incident took place shortly after passengers had boarded the aircraft, which was headed to London's Gatwick Airport. Several flyers live-tweeted the incident as it happened. Some said the woman labelled the Muslim men "terrorists" and told stewardesses she saw them as a "threat to the safety" of the aircraft.
According to the Independent, the incident caused the flight to be delayed by over an hour.
In a statement on the matter, a spokesperson for Thomas Cook Airlines told The Mirror:
"Two passengers on flight MT105 from Dalaman to London Gatwick were removed from the aircraft by police following offensive behaviour on board. The safety of our customers and crew is always our first priority and we do not accept this kind of behaviour on our aircraft. We are sorry to our customers for the delay this caused to their flight."
Shanea Kerry, one of those on board the plane, posted a thread to Twitter. In one of her tweets, she uploaded a video capturing the moment the woman was escorted off the plane by police.
In another, she said nothing was done to help out the victims of this Islamophobic assault.
"I don't believe there was any support offered to the distressed victims of her racist abuse or any sanctions given to her. One air hostess was even laughing & joking about the situation," she wrote.
Other people on board, including Mario Van Poppel, a 40-year-old Belgian, also tweeted out about the incident, labelling the woman a "crazy racist."
The incident left people outraged
Others just couldn't even with it
Because this shouldn't be any human being's reality
"Racial discrimination should never be tolerated"
Unfortunately, Islamophobic attacks on airplanes aren't uncommon
In fact, "Flying While Muslim" is an actual term that was born following the countless Islamophobic incidents that have occurred in airports and airplanes in recent years.
One positive difference in the Thomas Cook flight incident is that the woman - accompanied by a male passenger - was thrown off the plane because more often than not, it's the victim that's asked or forced to exit.
In 2016, an Iraqi student was removed from a Southwest Airline flight for saying "Inshallah" while on the phone with his uncle before departure.
In that same year, two Muslim women were kicked off an American Airlines aircraft because a flight attendant felt "unsafe" in their presence.
