A Delta Airlines passenger who was kicked off a plane for panicking at least 20 other passengers is Adam Saleh, a Youtube star who is known for his pranks.
Saleh is a 23-year-old American who was born to Yemeni parents. He was on a flight to New York out of Heathrow Airport in London when he began speaking to his mother in Arabic.
Thousands of passengers have flown on Delta who also speak in Arabic. But this guy is a "Youtube star" who is known for his pranks. It probably wasn't the content or the language in which he spoke -- but the manner in which he spoke -- which was intended to freak out the other passengers.
Saleh recorded a video accusing Delta of being "racist" and basically causing a scene on the plane.
Other Youtubers accuse Saleh of being a prankster who perpetrated other hoaxes in the past.
"I'm a bit skeptical. I don't trust these Youtube pranksters," says Youtuber Tim Pool, who referred to Saleh's video as "fake news".
He noted that Saleh once made a Youtube video called "Counting down in Arabic on a plane".
Saleh has 1.6 million followers on his Youtube.com channel. He earns money from views on his Youtube videos. The more views, the more money he earns from advertising.
After Saleh's video went viral, the airline issued a statement via Twitter.com.
The airline carrier confirmed in a statement that two passengers were escorted off the flight “after a disturbance in the cabin resulted in more than 20 customers expressing their discomfort.”
“We’re conducting a full review to understand what transpired,” Delta said in the statement. “We are taking allegations of discriminations very seriously; our culture requires treating others with respect.”
We got kicked out of a @Delta airplane because I spoke Arabic to my mom on the phone and with my friend slim... WTFFFFFFFF please spread pic.twitter.com/P5dQCE0qos
— Adam Saleh (@omgAdamSaleh) December 21, 2016
