Expert: Matthew Smith - 11/25/2007

Question
After boarding , the  air craft stayed at the runway for about two hours , I asked the crew member if I can leave the plane because I missed my appointment and I might miss the return flight which will be with in few hours and I  have the boarding pass with me. The officials agreed to drop me out .the problem is they kept me in custody in the air port until the flight reached the final destination I am asking if this procedure is legal

Answer
Dear Saeed,

I am not a lawyer, so this is really outside of my expertise, but I will try to answer your question from the viewpoint of someone who does aviation security.

I'm really surprised that they let you off the plane in the first place.  Generally, once the plane has pulled away from the gate, airlines almost never return to the gate no matter how long the delay.  (Remember how JetBlue had trouble last year because they stayed on the tarmac for hours?)  So, in that sense you should be very thankful that they were nice enough to let you off.  Most airlines ignore such requests.

Even passengers who change flight times (i.e. board a later flight than originally schedules) are subject to further screening.  The assumption, from a security standpoint, is that anything out of the ordinary (missing a flight, requesting to get off a flight which you have already boarded, etc.) are "red flags" that indicate potential security risks.

Holding you until the plane arrived safely is a rather reasonable accommodation.  Think of it this way.  If ANYONE (regardless of race, religion, etc) asks to get off a plane that is already on the tarmac, that is extremely suspicious behavior.  Your reasoning is sound (you missed an appointment, so there's no sense in flying) but the airline's reasoning is sound, too.  They had a person who made an extremely odd request (get off the plane when it's already taxied out) and it is their right (their duty!) to ensure that the plane remains safe.  Feasibly, they could have emptied the plane of all baggage and persons, re-screened everything to make sure there was no bomb on board, and then reboarded.  

Look at it from a practical standpoint.  Holding you is easy.  One person, held for an hour or two.  De-boarding and unloading the baggage on an entire plane and rescreening each and every person and bag costs tens of thousands of dollars.  

If the airline had let others off the plane, but only you were held, you might have some kind of a discrimination lawsuit.  However, you seem to be the only one who got off the plane.  Your request raised a red flag, and the airline has the responsibility to ensure that its property and passengers are safe.  Therefore, I do not think it is worth pursuing any legal action against the airline or whoever it was that placed you in custody.

I hope this has answered your question to your satisfaction.  Sorry, but I really think the airline was simply being reasonably cautious.