 URL the new york times september NUMBER NUMBER high altitude rambos by bob herbert dr bob rajcoomar a u s citizen and former military physician from lake worth fla found himself handcuffed and taken into custody last month in one of the many episodes of hysteria to erupt on board airliners in the u s since the sept NUMBER attacks dr rajcoomar was seated in first class on a delta airlines flight from atlanta to philadelphia on aug NUMBER when a passenger in the coach section began behaving erratically the passenger steven feuer had nothing to do with dr rajcoomar two u s air marshals got up from their seats in first class and moved back to coach to confront mr feuer who was described by witnesses as a slight man who seemed disoriented what ensued was terrifying when mr feuer refused to remain in his seat the marshals reacted as if they were trying out for the lead roles in hollywood s latest action extravaganza they handcuffed mr feuer hustled him into first class and restrained him in a seat next to dr rajcoomar the NUMBER or so passengers were now quite jittery dr rajcoomar asked to have his seat changed and a flight attendant obliged finding him another seat in first class the incident already scary could and should have ended there but the marshals were not ready to let things quiet down one of the marshals pulled a gun and brandished it at the passengers the marshals loudly demanded that all passengers remain in their seats and remain still they barked a series of orders no one should stand for any reason arms and legs should not extend into the aisles no one should try to visit the restroom the message could not have been clearer anyone who disobeyed the marshals was in danger of being shot the passengers were petrified with most believing that there were terrorists on the plane i was afraid there was going to be a gun battle in that pressurized cabin said senior judge james a lineberger of the philadelphia court of common pleas a veteran of NUMBER years in the military who was sitting in an aisle seat in coach i was afraid that i was going to die from the gunfire in a shootout dr rajcoomar s wife dorothy who was seated quite a distance from her husband said it was really like rambo in the air she worried that there might be people on the plane who did not speak english and therefore did not understand the marshals orders if someone got up to go to the bathroom he or she might be shot there were no terrorists on board there was no threat of any kind when the plane landed about half an hour later mr feuer was taken into custody and then shockingly so was dr rajcoomar the air marshals grabbed the doctor from behind handcuffed him and for no good reason that anyone has been able to give hauled him to an airport police station where he was thrown into a filthy cell this was airline security gone berserk no one ever suggested that dr rajcoomar a straight arrow retired army major had done anything wrong dr rajcoomar who is of indian descent said he believes he was taken into custody solely because of his brown skin he was held for three frightening hours and then released without being charged mr feuer was also released officials tried to conceal the names of the marshals but they were eventually identified by a philadelphia inquirer reporter as shawn b mccullers and samuel mumma of the transportation security administration which is part of the u s transportation department the transportation security administration has declined to discuss the incident in detail a spokesman offered the absurd explanation that dr rajcoomar was detained because he had watched the unfolding incident too closely if that becomes a criterion for arrest in the u s a lot of us reporters are headed for jail dr rajcoomar told me yesterday that he remains shaken by the episode i had never been treated like that in my life he said i was afraid that i was about to be beaten up or killed lawyers for the american civil liberties union have taken up his case and he has filed notice that he may sue the federal government for unlawful detention we have to take a look at what we re doing in the name of security said dr rajcoomar so many men and women have fought and died for freedom in this great country and now we are in danger of ruining that in the name of security r a hettinga mailto rah ibuc com the internet bearer underwriting corporation URL NUMBER farquhar street boston ma NUMBER usa however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity predicting the end of the world has not been found agreeable to experience edward gibbon decline and fall of the roman empire 