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WASHINGTON

One of the ejected passengers said the confusion started at Reagan National Airport just outside Washington, D.C., when he talked about the safest place to sit on an airplane.

Orlando, Fla.-based AirTran said it refunded the passengers’ airfare and planned to refund them with respect to re-establishment tickets they bought upon the body US Airways. AirTran also offered to be well received the passengers back to Washington, D.C., for free.

“We apologize to all of the passengers

AirTran said the incident was a misunderstanding but the steps taken were necessary.

Two U.S. Muslim advocacy groups were critical of the airline’s actions. The Muslim Public Affairs Council called in succession federal officials Friday to guileless one investigation, and the Council for American-Islamic Relations filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation, saying “It is incumbent on any airline to ensure that members of the traveling the community are not singled out or mistreated based on their perceived race, religion or public origin.”

Bill Adams, a Transportation Department spokesman, said the department investigates insight complaints but would not comment to a greater distance.

One of the Muslim passengers, Atif Irfan, said the family appreciated the apology. “It’s definitely nice to hear,” he said.

He said that when his group was boarding Thursday, he mentioned something to his wife and sister-in-law about having to sit in the back. His sister-in-law said she believed the hinder part of the airplane was safest, but Irfan believed it was better to be by dint of. the wings.

“She said, ‘Yes, I believe it makes sense not to be close to the weapon in case matter happens,’ ” Irfan recalled Friday. “It was a real benign conversation.”

Shortly after taking their seats, members of the group were approached by federal air marshals and taken not on the plane, Irfan said. They stood in the jet bridge leading one into the other to the airport and answered questions while other passengers exited and glared.

Irfan said he thought he and the others were profiled for the reason that of their guise. The men had beards and the women wore head scarves, traditional Muslim attire.

Original text: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2008585678_airtran03.html?syndication=rss