Professor Suspected Of Being A Terrorist Because Of A Math Equation

An economics professor was taken off an American Airlines flight and questioned by agents because he was solving a differential equation.

 

Guido Menzio, a University of Pennsylvania economics professor, was flying from Philadelphia to Syracuse to give a talk at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada. Prior to take-off, a fellow passenger alerted the flight attendant that the professor may be a terrorist. The reason behind her suspicions was that the professor was working on a differential equation on a piece of paper.

 

Menzio recounted the experience on Facebook. “The passenger sitting next to me calls the stewardess, passes her a note.” After the plane returned to the gate, he was asked to disembark the plane and “met by some FBI looking man-in-black”. He goes on to say, “they tell me she thought I was a terrorist because I was writing strange things on a pad of paper. I laugh. I bring them back to the plane. I showed them my math.”

The flight eventually took off with the professor on board – more than two hours late.

 

American Airlines, whose regional partner Air Wisconsin was operating the flight, said the crew followed protocol to investigate the allegations. It was established that they were not credible.