Student removed from flight after 'being overheard speaking in Arabic'

The incident took place at Los Angeles International Airport on April 6
Jamie Bullen18 April 2016

A university student has claimed he was removed from a flight in California because a fellow passenger overheard him talking Arabic on his mobile phone

Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, 26, said he was taken off a Southwest Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Oakland after he phoned his uncle in Baghdad before take-off.

He phoned his relative to discuss a speech he had attended by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

He told the New York Times a woman sitting in front of him on the plane began staring at him during the conversation and alerted employees.

He told the newspaper: “I was very excited about the event, so I called my uncle to tell him about it."

Mr Makhzoomi said he was escorted off the plane by an Arabic-speaking Southwest employee before he was asked about speaking in the language.

He claimed an official spoke to him “like an animal”, adding he felt afraid while being questioned during the incident on April 6.

The University of California student said he was not allowed back on the flight when he told him “this is what Islamophobia got this country into”.

FBI offiicials were called after Mr Makhzoomi claimed an airline employee of anti-Muslim bias.

A Southwest Airlines spokesman said the company was unable to comment on the conduct of individual employees.

In a statement it said: “We regret any less than positive experience a customer has onboard our aircraft.

“Southwest neither condones nor tolerates discrimination of any kind.”

The FBI said it had investigated and found no further action was necessary.

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