US Airways Passenger: I Was Escorted Off Plane For Photographing Staffer's Name Tag

A traveler boarding a US Airways flight from Philadelphia to Miami on Friday says she was booted from the plane after she took a photo of an airline employee’s name tag, while US Airways says she was ejected for being foul-mouthed.

According to the booted passenger, she used her iPhone to photograph a US Airways staffer’s name tag because the employee was being rude to customers and the passenger wanted to have the name so she could file a proper complaint upon landing.

But before the plane took off, she says she was approached by the staffer and told to delete the photo. The passenger says she complied, in part because the photo was too dark to use, and erased the image from her phone.

The woman claims that the US Airways employee then visited the cockpit and told the pilot the woman was a “security risk” before she was escorted off by a pair of flight attendants.

“I announced to the other passengers that I was being removed because I took a photo,” she tells Pixiq.com. ” I announced that photography is not a crime.”

She says that an airline manager at the airport would not book her on another US Airways flight because she was a security risk.

She eventually got on a Southwest Airlines flight to Ft. Lauderdale several hours later than her original flight.

A rep for the airline tells MSNBC.com a different version of events.

“Once onboard, she was using foul and explicit language,” explains the rep. “She was removed at the request of the captain.”

Woman Escorted Off US Airways Flight For Snapping [Pixiq.com]

http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/07/05/7017742-woman-escorted-off-us-airways-flight-after-snapping-photo [MSNBC]

Thanks to Jerry for the tip!

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