LUTON, England, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- British airline passengers behaved irrationally when they forced two men to leave a flight, fearing they might be terrorists, an official in London says.
The men, British citizens reported to be of Asian or Middle Eastern appearance, were taken off a Monarch Airlines flight from Malaga, Spain, to Manchester, England, Wednesday after other passengers became alarmed at their behavior and demanded their removal.
The men wore leather jackets, regularly checked their watches and appeared to speak an Arabic-sounding language, London's Mail on Sunday reports.
After the passenger mutiny, the men were peacefully removed, questioned and released.
The plane departed three hours late. The men spent the night at a hotel and flew to Manchester the next day.
British homeland security spokesman Patrick Mercer called the incident "a victory for terrorists," saying the passengers had been "terrorized into behaving irrationally."
"For those unfortunate two men to be victimized because of the color of their skin is just nonsense," he said.
