- CHARLOTTE, North Carolina: The government of the United Arab Emirates wants more information about an incident in which several of its citizens were taken off a Washington-bound flight from Charlotte and rescreened by security.
In a Saturday statement, the country’s embassy in Washington says it wants to hear from the Transportation Security Administration why the UAE students were detained on Thursday, the Thanksgiving holiday. It also wants to know how such situations can be avoided in the future.
It calls the situation regrettable, but says officials are pleased the students eventually made it to Washington.
A TSA spokesman said the US Airways pilot requested Charlotte airport police assist in removing individuals from the plane because of a perceived security concern. TSA and airport police determined the individuals did not pose any security threat.
