Why were 101 students of Yeshiva of Flatbush expelled from a plane?

A group of 101 students from 'Yeshiva of Flatbush, Brooklyn Orthodox school, and eight of their companions were removed from an airplane company, Southwest Airlines which was supposed to take off yesterday morning (Monday) from New York to Atlanta.

Southwest Airlines argued that the non-compliant group "refused requests of staff to stay in the chairs during the flight or stop using mobile devices. According to CNN, after the students refused to respond to staff requests, they were asked to get off the plane.

Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins told CNN that the conflict caused a delay of the flight by 45 minutes. According to the company, the students violated the safety instructions.

Yeshiva of Flatbush, said that the team responded excessively to the excitement of the students who were waiting for the trip. "Everything was blown out of proportion. They turned a mole into a mountain," Marianne Oielgos one of the teachers at the yeshiva who accompanied the students told CNN. According Oielgos, some students were asked twice to sit or turn off the cell phone, but everyone listened to requests: "They certainly did not do what the stewards claim."

Oielgos said that the flight attendants were "not nice and with excessive behavior. They created an incident where they didn’t have to." She added that she understood if one or two students were asked to get off the plane, but objected to the collective punishment. "A small group of students at the back of the plane were loud, but it does not give the team the right to remove all 109 members of a group from the aircraft."

One of the rabbis who accompanied the group said that the group was quiet and well behaved, but already from the start it was clear that the flight crew was nervous and angry. According to him, it all began when the flight attendant asked the students to sit in seats, fasten your seat belt and turn off the cell phone devices. Most students complied with the provisions, except a small group sitting at the end of the plane.

The steward approached the group and asked them to follow orders. Yeshiva staff who accompanied the group approached the irate steward and offered their assistance, and requested to know the name of the boy who does not obey. The steward refused to get help from the rabbis, and turned to the pilot on the grounds that the group does not sound safety instructions.

"Steward showed hostility as soon as he saw us"

According to the yeshiva staff, the pilot did not bother to go out to the passengers and find out what was the matter, and instead ordered the group to leave the plane immediately. According to them, the rabbis approached the attendant and asked to remove only a handful of students who claim there were no instructions, but the pilot was on his demand that everyone be removed from the flight.

Jonathan Zahavi, one of the students, said: "This was an early morning flight. It was four in the morning. We were all excited about the trip, no one wild and intended to violate instructions. I have flown different airlines many times, and I saw how non-Jewish youngsters act on planes, in contrast we were just fine, steward found hostility has soon as he saw us, with yarmulkes and tzitizis, his hatred was clear, they turned a mouse into an elephant, it always happens that children do not close the cell phone as soon as they are told, and have to tell them again, but in our case it was clear, it was a hatred of Jews.

"When they told us to get off the plane, there was no arguing, new didn’t act like the American youth acts, we acted in perfect order and dignity," said Zahavi.

Yeshiva Rabbi, who accompanied the group, said that the Department of Public Petitions addressed to the group, is also understood that there is a strange behavior. "They immediately arranged for us seats on the flight later to that destination. Problem was there was no room for the group and we had to split into two groups, with one group who had to fly more hours and change planes in the middle. A flight which usually takes two and a half hours, took part of the group 12 hours, because they had to fly through Milwaukee with a layover and change of planes."

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!