A 15-member crew of an Air India flight from Delhi was held up for nearly two hours by the US authorities at JFK airport for "discrepancies" in their travel documents.
The incident happened on March 2 after Air India flight AI-101 from New Delhi landed at the JFK Airport in New York.
The crew was stopped at the immigration check itself by the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) authorities and was made to wait for nearly two hours before getting clearance.
"It was humiliating as the entire crew was in full uniform, standing and waiting in full public gaze. The crew also approached Air India station manager at the airport seeking his intervention, but he also expressed his helplessness in either helping them or finding out the reason for such a humiliating wait," sources in the know of the incident said.
When asked for a reaction, CBP Public Affairs Specialist Anthony L Bucci said,"The crew was held up because there was a discrepancy with the documents that US Customs and Border Protection received from the airline."
He also ruled out that it was a case of "racial profiling", saying, "CBP does not use racial profiling. CBP strives to treat all travellers with respect and in a professional manner, while maintaining the focus of our mission to protect all citizens and visitors in the United States.
