Italian mathematician taken off flight after fellow passenger alarmed by his notepad calculations
An Italian maths professor was escorted of an American Airlines flight after a fellow passenger feared his mysterious scribbling on a notepad was evidence that he was a terrorist.
In fact Guido Menzio was working on an equation connected with a presentation on price–setting.
.. Mr Menzio, an economics professor at the University of Pennsylvania was asked to come to the front of the aircraft where he was spoken to first by the pilot and then an official.
Mr Menzio, a highly respected academic who has also had spells at Princeton and Stanford universities, succeeded in convincing the authorities that his doodles were an equation.
He was allowed to board the flight, which left two hours late, without the woman whose suspicions caused the delay.