Several passengers were thrown off a flight for allegedly speaking Russian. The passengers claim that the flight attendants were intimidated by a group of six people that were speaking the language.
The six passengers, from San Diego, were heading to Las Vegas for an anniversary party but they were told to leave shortly after boarding the plane, the Daily Mail reports.
A flight attendant claims that they asked the group to lower their voices repeatedly. The group wasn't drunk and claims that they were talking about the upcoming part in a normal tone. When they ignored the order, the flight attendant had them removed.
The group of Russian-speaking passengers told News 10 that they never heard the flight attendant ask them to keep quiet.
Sana Bitman was one of the passengers on the flight who was kicked off along with her husband Dmitry. "He [the steward] just said, 'This row needs to get up and leave now.' It was humiliating to be treated that way," Bitman told News 10.
The passengers that were kicked off the plane included a business owner, teacher and an accountant.
The group claims that a Spirit Airlines employee later told them that the flight attendants were intimidated by them speaking Russian.
However the airline said the passengers were removed simply because they wouldn't keep their voices down.
"We are conducting a complete review and reaching out to the customers," a Spirit spokesperson told the Daily Mail. "Our preliminary review shows that the customers were asked to deplane for loud and disruptive behavior."
The group is planning to sue the airline.
Attorney Daniel Petrov is representing the group. He said that it is illegal to discriminate someone based on national origin.
"They were kicked off the plane for speaking Russian; It's that simple. It's illegal," said Petrov.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
