Odd News

Passenger detained over song choice

(AP)
Updated: 2006-04-16 15:22

You expect to have your luggage scrutinized at the airport. But how about your choice of music?

Security staff at a British airport stopped a businessman from catching a flight because the songs he had asked a taxi driver to play on the car stereo made the driver suspicious, police said.

Harraj Mann, who is of Indian origin, had the songs stored on an MP3 player, which the cab was equipped to play on its stereo. Mann asked the driver to play "London Calling" by the Clash as they headed for Tees Valley International Airport near Darlington in northern England on March 30, news reports said.

The lyrics include the words "London calling from the faraway towns, now war is declared and battle come down/ London calling to the underworld, come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls."

Mann, 24, also asked the driver to play "Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin, which begins, "The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands, to fight the horde singing and crying Valhalla, I'm coming!"

The driver alerted airport authorities and Mann was arrested as he boarded a flight for London's Heathrow Airport. He missed the flight and later took a taxi home.

Durham Police said the plane took off before they had established that the man was not a threat.

"In this case the report was made with the best of intentions and we would not want to discourage people from contacting us with genuine concerns regarding security," police said in a statement.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Mann was quoted as saying the incident was "preposterous."

"I never, ever play the race card, I really do forget I'm Asian," he was quoted as saying. "But when something like this happens, it does make you think."