The Federal Public Ministry (MPF) launched an investigation to determine the circumstances of the removal of a black passenger from a commercial aircraft of the airline Gol, at the International Airport of Salvador (BA), after problems with storing luggage on the aircraft.
The case took place on Friday (28) and a video shows the woman, identified as Samantha Vitena, narrating the situation to passengers inside the plane. Reports say that, due to lack of space for bags, the flight crew asked Samantha to check in her backpack.
According to the MPF, the procedure released this Friday (5) will investigate a possible case of racism and violation of women’s rights, “so that compensatory, reparatory and accountability measures can be adopted, in the civil sphere, for the protection of collective rights eventually violated”.
Gol, the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) and the Regional Superintendence of the Federal Police (PF) in Bahia must provide clarification on the case. The investigation runs in secrecy.
The agency requests:
- To Gol, a copy of the regulation that guides its employees in situations of this nature, qualification of the entire on-board team that was present and, also, clarification regarding the training and qualification of its employees on the treatment to be given to passengers;
- To Anac, existing regulations regarding the powers of the on-board team, limits and instruments for monitoring the decisions taken and preventing possible abusive and discriminatory attitudes in relation to facts that occurred on aircraft;
- To the PF, information on the action of the agents in the episode, as well as the qualification of the police and the existing regulations regarding the procedures and checks to be carried out when called upon by the staff on board the aircraft.
remember the case
According to reports, the flight crew asked Samantha to check in her backpack due to lack of space for suitcases. The woman tells in the video that she refused to do it because there was a risk of damage to her notebook.
“If I shipped my laptop, it would be in pieces. The stewards didn’t lift a finger to help me. It was this gentleman and this lady who helped me. On the contrary, the flight attendants said that if we landed in Guarulhos [o voo tinha como destino Congonhas]it would be my fault, because I didn’t want to check the bag, said the woman, standing between the federal agents, in the aisle inside the plane.
Helped by other passengers, Samantha managed to accommodate her backpack. Even so, the takeoff was delayed and three PF agents later boarded the plane to remove the passenger from the aircraft.
“The flight is more than two hours late, and it would be my fault. Since it’s been over an hour since I put my backpack here and the flight still didn’t take off”, said Samantha in the video taken by another passenger.
“Now, there are three men to take me off the flight without telling me why,” she said, referring to the three federal police officers who were at her side.
At this moment in the video recorded inside the plane, the first agent approached and said that she was missing the truth. “I told you that I am removing you from the aircraft by order of the captain,” he said. When asked again about the reason, the agent approached Samantha.
She questioned whether he would act violently against her. At that moment, the third federal police officer approached and said that the commander had ordered her to be removed. “It’s a matter of flight safety,” said the federal police officer, who had a document in his hands. In the background of the video, you can hear criticism from other passengers.
In the video sequence, Samantha leaves the flight. Elaine says that she accompanied the passenger and was also a victim of pressure.
“I got there behind her and got off the plane, until one of the police officers tried to arrest me too and grabbed my arm in an aggressive way and I managed to get out. And that’s when we started calling people.”
(Published by Gustavo Zanfer, with information from Thais Magalhães)
Source: CNN Brasil
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