Woman Pulled From Philly Flight for Taking Picture

A photographer who was traveling from Philadelphia International Airport to Miami Friday was removed from a US Airways plane and called a “security risk” after she took a picture of an airline employee’s name tag, reports Pixiq.

Sandy DeWitt told the photography website that she took a picture of the employee with her iPhone so that she could send it to US Airways in a complaint about the woman’s rude behavior toward some passengers as they were in the boarding area.

After taking a photo of Tonialla G.’s nametag, DeWitt boarded the flight and sat down in her seat. Tonialla G. was suddenly standing in front of her on the plane, demanding that DeWitt delete the photo from her phone, according to the site.

“I complied with her wishes but it’s not something I would normally do,” DeWitt told Carlos Miller of Photography is Not a Crime. “It just wasn’t usable.”

Despite the fact that DeWitt deleted the already too-dark-to-use photo, Tonialla G. went to the front of the plane and told the pilot that the Miami photographer was a “security risk.”

DeWitt was escorted from the plane and forced to find a Southwest Airlines flight going to Fort Lauderdale – the closest she could get to Miami that night.

A spokesman for US Airways told msnbc.com that DeWitt was disruptive and her use of vulgar language is what got her removed from the plane.

“Once onboard, she was using foul and explicit language,” Todd Lehmacher said. “She was removed at the request of the captain.”

Lehmacher told msnbc.com that he didn’t know what DeWitt said, and he could not confirm that an employee asked her to delete a photo from her iPhone.
 

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