A young man with Tourette's was not allowed to fly on a Jet Blue flight last week after he kept saying the word "bomb."
Michael Doyle, 19, was supposed to fly out of from Reagan National Airport in Washington for a trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico with his friend Chaz Petteway on Thursday, but Doyle and Petteway were not allowed to board the Jet Blue flight, FOX reports.
According to Fox 5 News, Doyle wasn't allowed on board because he kept saying "bomb" due to his Tourette syndrome.
The two were very excited for the trip as they were supposed to go to a Revolutionary War reenactment in San Juan.
"It was a really big deal for us," Doyle said. "It was going to be fun."
Before the flight, Doyle alerted the TSA and Jet Blue about his Tourette's and tendency to repeat words involuntarily.
"With all the stuff in the news about the Boston bombings and stuff, I started ticking 'bomb,' because when I get nervous and anything on my mind will come out," Doyle said in an interview with FOX 5 News.
Doyle and Petteway passed through security without any issues since the TSA were warned about Doyle's syndrome. However they were not allowed to get on the plane during boarding time.
According to the New York Daily News, Jet Blue officials said that Doyle was "deemed a safety concern by the pilot in command after using the word 'bomb.' After further investigation, the situation was deemed innocuous and our special services team reached out to work with the customer directly to coordinate alternative travel arrangements."
However Doyle was mortified over the incident and the delay already caused them to miss the reenactment.
"It doesn't make up for the embarrassment, or the fact that we missed something we'd been planning for two years," Doyle said.
As compensation, Doyle was offered a free, round-trip ticket on another Jet Blue flight, but JetBlue couldn't promise that a similar incident wouldn't happen again. Doyle has been through this on several occasions.
"I mean this has happened multiple times in my life... And it's... it just...it hurts," Doyle said.
Petteway was allowed to board the flight but he refused to leave his friend behind.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
