[PSM]

Originally Posted by Dozer523

Way too much drama. Terry Maxon's a sucker.

So it would seem:

AirTran responds to passenger's terrorism email
11:43 AM Fri, Dec 04, 2009 | Permalink
Terry Maxon/Reporter Bio | E-mail | News tips

We have two updates on the AirTran Airways incident Nov. 17 that has gotten many people agitated.

Flight 297 was delayed for about two and a half hours because some passengers wouldn't comply with orders from flight attendants. (We all agree on that, right?)

A passenger originally on that flight sent out an email saying it appeared to him to have the look of a terrorist dry run, and that email has gone viral. It's probably driven AirTran nutty trying to respond to it.

In the latest developments, Houston television station KHOU has done a story about the flight and has talked to the man who sent the email, Tedd Petruna. You can click this link to see the story.

The station quoted Petruna as saying: ""I'm glad it got out. Due to personal and financial reasons, I can't speak about this."

The report said Petruna "admits that his description of the men's attire was wrong, and he admits he didn't personally see anyone watching pornographic videos."

And AirTran has posted a long message on its internal web site responding to the email point by point, and cites many discrepancies between what Petruna's email claimed and what it says its investigation found out.

"We bring this to your attention in order to dispel myths that are beginning to make the rounds in chat rooms, blogs and conspiracy theorists' Web sites," AirTran told its employees.

Below, we have the entire AirTran message.

AirTran 297- Anatomy of an Urban Legend

Posted on 04 December 2009

On November 17, 2009, AirTran flight 297 was scheduled to travel from Atlanta to Houston-Hobby. During taxi a passenger was non-compliant with Crew Members, using a cell phone and taking pictures. The flight taxied back to the gate and the passenger, who did not speak English, and his companion acting as his interpreter were asked to de-plane. They were met by customer service personnel and TSA.

The passengers were allowed to re-board and continued on the flight after speaking with AirTran and TSA representatives. The flight was delayed by more than two hours.

Since the flight and initial media reports, several blogs and Internet sites have recounted the incident as portrayed by a passenger originally scheduled for the flight. Below is that passenger's account (unedited in any way including spelling and grammar), as reported on several blogs. Highlighted between the passenger's account, are the factually accurate circumstances surrounding this incident.

We bring this to your attention in order to dispel myths that are beginning to make the rounds in chat rooms, blogs and conspiracy theorists' Web sites.

________________________________________

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