Lawsuit Trial Begins for Ousted Airline Passenger

A former Fall River man whose allegedly bizarre behavior ignited chaos aboard an American Airlines flight in Boston will have a first-class seat in federal court today as he tries to persuade jurors he's a victim of post-9/11 paranoia.

American, which lost two of the four jets hijacked on Sept. 11, 2001, will argue crew members aboard Flight 2237 ``comported with prevailing industry standards'' on Dec. 28, 2003, when they sent John Cerqueira packing. And, that Cerqueira provided ample ammunition for exercising caution.

Cerqueira, 39, who is of Portuguese descent, has accused the airline of discrimination, mistaking him as ``Arab, Middle Eastern or South Asian.'' He and two other unnamed male passengers seated by him - who he claims he didn't know - were taken off the Florida-bound flight before it left Logan International Airport because his behavior was making the crew nervous. Attorneys for Cerqueira and American could not be reached. The airline alleges in its brief that Cerqueira ``spent an inordinate amount of time'' in the jet's bathroom and ``appeared to be feigning sleep.'' One of the men, American argues, approached the captain ``and made strange comments to him.''

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