Some of Mideastern descent ordered off planes

Vahid "Tony" Zohrehvandi was seated on an American Airlines flight last Friday when he suddenly was ordered off the plane. He says the reason he was given: The pilot was uncomfortable with him as a passenger.

Zohrehvandi says he explained he was a part-time American employee and showed his photo ID card, but it didn't matter. He was questioned by authorities in Seattle, released and returned home to Dallas on a later flight.

"It was humiliating," says the 41-year-old Iranian native and software developer who has serviced planes for the airline for 12 years. "In this country when I became a citizen, they said, 'You're an American.' On that day, I realize I will never be an American in this country as long as I look like this."

American Airlines declined comment.

Passed security

Zohrehvandi is among a small but growing number of people with Middle Eastern names or appearances who, in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, complain they've been refused seats because crews or passengers have said they don't feel safe flying with them.

The complaints involve several airlines and passengers across the country, says Hussein Ibish, spokesman for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Washington. He says the incidents are similar: Passengers pass rigorous security only to be taken off planes or prevented at the last minute from boarding.

The federal government has issued a statement to air carriers and Delta Air Lines has reminded its employees that passengers not be singled out.

Delta's statement came days after Ashraf Khan, a 32-year-old Pakistani-American in a first-class seat, said he was asked by a pilot to leave a Delta flight in San Antonio.

A Delta spokeswoman said the airline takes the matter seriously and does not condone discrimination.

In Minneapolis, three Iraqi-born men were not allowed to travel last Thursday on their scheduled Northwest Airlines flight home to Salt Lake City.

"I feel that it's not the America I knew," said Kareem Alasady, one of the passengers. "It's a different America."

John Mazor, spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, called these incidents unfortunate and said his union is urging the expansion of a computerized system that screens for suspicious passengers by rating factors such as how and when travelers bought their tickets.

"That's far more effective than looking at the color of skin or facial features," Mazor said.