Latest news with #commercialairline
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
ICE Is Going to Sinister Lengths to Avoid Accountability
The Trump administration and the aviation companies working for it have been purposely hiding the tail numbers on immigration flights to avoid public scrutiny and accountability, CNN reports. This move comes as the Trump administration's immigration crackdown ratchets up in frequency and aggression, as deportation flights are up 15 percent from last year. A plane removing a tail number is the equivalent of a car removing a license plate. With the tail number, civilians, journalists, and immigration organizations alike can keep an eye on which deportation flights are leaving, and to where. It also helps loved ones track their deported family members. The flights are run by multiple private charter companies and at least one commercial airline, each of which have lucrative contracts with ICE. Flightradar24, one of the websites that covers immigration, noticed in March that those subcontractors requested that their tail numbers be hidden from public flight-tracking sites and records, making them extremely difficult to follow. The bulk of these flights are domestic, moving detainees from facility to facility. 'Flights operated on behalf of the United States government are often unidentified at the government's request. As subcontractors to the United States government, we ask that you direct your questions to them,' said a spokesperson from Avelo Airlines, a company that has dedicated three of its planes to ICE deportations. 'This is vital information to be able to understand how ICE is conducting its enforcement and deportation activities,' ACLU National Prison Project senior counsel Eunice Cho told CNN. 'Sometimes this is the only information that the public has with respect to where ICE is placing people because of a general lack of transparency around detention and deportation under this particular administration.' The Department of Homeland Security has yet to comment. Solve the daily Crossword
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Vaping American Airlines passenger who fought with stewardess rescinds apology and now claims he's the victim
A shameless American Airlines passenger who got into a feud with a flight attendant after she caught him vaping mid-air claims that he was the victim. Peter 'Kobe' Nguyen doubled down on his response following the August 4 altercation, where he filmed himself berating a flight attendant for intruding on him vaping in a plane bathroom. The self-described Hollywood producer and pickleball coach took to Instagram after his outburst circulated on social media, claiming that he was somehow victimized in the argument. 'Something happened to me that I never imagined I'd have to go through — especially on a commercial airline,' Nguyen said in his post. 'While flying on American Airlines Flight 2860, my privacy and dignity were violated in ways that left me shaken, humiliated and hurt.' Nguyen accused the crew member on the Phoenix to San Francisco flight of opening the bathroom door while he was inside after she saw smoke. Nguyen then fraudulently told the flight attendant he was a lawyer and threatened to target her on social media through his 20,000 Instagram followers. Despite breaking federal law by smoking on the plane Nguyen withdrew an initial apology and claims, 'the incident has impacted my mental health, my work, and my ability to trust the very systems meant to keep us safe'. The unruly passenger initially blamed his outburst on 'nicotine withdrawal'. However his latest post was far less remorseful and featured an image of an airline staffer with their arms crossed, captioned: 'I can't delete it, it's already on the internet', apparently in reference to the backlash. He complained in the post that he 'lost a very important friend through all of this - someone I cared for deeply and who was an important part of my life', as a result of the viral altercation. 'I'm not just a CEO and nonprofit founder - I'm also a Hollywood producer. The reputational harm from this incident has been devastating to my career,' he said. It is not clear what Hollywood movies Nguyen has produced nor what he is the CEO of. Daily Mail has contacted Nguyen for clarification. He says on his social media that he is a pickleball coach and 'AI expert'. Nguyen signed off his post by saying that he has, 'formally taken this matter to American Airlines' legal department'. 'My goal is not only accountability, but to make sure this never happens to anyone else,' he wrote. 'I will fight for justice, privacy, and dignity for every passenger.' The belligerent passenger faced calls to be added to the no-fly list, however he shared a defiant Instagram story on Tuesday from inside a plane captioned 'No flight ban'. Nguyen's post marks a U-turn from his initial response to his viral conflict with the flight attendant, as he previously apologized for his behavior in an interview with Fox 10 Phoenix. He told the outlet: 'I'm sorry to all of the other passengers, there's no excuse for what happened.' He said that he vaped on the flight because he was struggling with nicotine withdrawals and couldn't wait another 30 minutes until he landed. 'I wish I never picked up a vape to begin with,' he said. 'It sucks knowing in order to be myself, I have to have nicotine. I feel so helpless.'
