[TRANSCRIPT]

Rosina Switras

What if you were kicked off a plane, for doing math equations on your flight? This past Thursday, Guido Menzio, an Italian professor that teaches Economics at the University of Pennsylvania was doing just that, until a woman wanted him off the plane.

An American Airlines flight from Philadelphia to Syracuse was delayed more than two hours after a paranoid woman wanted the professor off the plane, thinking he was a terrorist. The woman told American Airlines she was “not feeling well” and was concerned about Menzio’s behavior. She handed the flight attendant a note, and asked for him to get off the plane. The woman tried making small talk with him, but he was working on his equations and keeping to himself.

The plane turned around, and went back to the gate before taking off. The woman was escorted off the plane, along with Menzio afterwards. The suspicious woman let the airline and security know that she thought his scribbles on his paper was a plot to destroy the plane. It wasn’t Arabic, or any plot twist, but it was just equations the professor was working on. He was on his way to give a speech in Ontario at a university, and was on a connecting flight. The woman never reboarded the plane, and Menzio got back on the flight, after the over two-hour delay.