BIKER NEWS: Black passenger 'humiliated after being sat next to white supremacist Hell's Angels' on flight

David Barthwell claims cabin staff belittled his request to move seats despite men next to him apparently having a violent and racist conversation

BN- A black airline passenger has claimed he was seated next to drunken white supremacists on a flight and that the crew didn't take his complaints seriously.

David Barthwell, an African American from Chicago, claimed crew aboard the Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt handled the situation badly, dismissing his plea to be moved to another seat.

The humiliated man took to Facebook to express his anger, posting a scathing complaint on the airline's page.

He began: "I am a Global Alliance Gold member and a lifelong and loyal customer of the Star Alliance. I am also African American.

"I recently experienced a very embarrassing customer service interaction on your flight LH1157 from Ibiza to Frankfurt."

David then went on to detail what had happened aboard the flight, explaining: "Upon taking my preferred aisle seat before departure I discovered that I was seated next to two white supremacist Hell's Angels.

"The one to my immediate right was intoxicated.

"There was another Hell's Angel in the window seat, and at least three more throughout the plane."

He then claims the men started a racist conversation with him sat amongst them adding: "As the crew began to prepare for departure, the two men seated next to me began to discuss their plans to unite the white race in order to initiate a global race war.

"They also began to discuss plans to target blacks and other minorities with violence and death."

"I began to fear for my safety upon overhearing this, and felt as if they were directing their language at me," he continued.

But when he discreetly alerted cabin crew to the situation, he claims he was met with indifference.

"As soon as the cabin indicated that I was able to remove my seatbelt, I approached the male service manager in the First Class cabin.

"I detailed to him that my seatmates were white supremacists, were causing me to fear for my safety, and asked if he could please direct me to another seat in a quiet manner.

"His immediate response was one of incredulity, and replied that he was unable to promote me into a higher class of seating.

"At NO point did I request to be placed in the First Class cabin - I only asked to be moved to another seat on the plane at a safe distance, and done quietly."

The 33-year-old claims he was eventually offered another seat but only in the row in front of the racist men.

He says he then asked to move to a vacant aisle towards the back of the aircraft but was again dismissed because a female passenger had her coat on the seat.



After much pressure, David claims the steward asked the woman to move her jacket and he was finally re-seated.

He slammed the German carrier: "That your crew would not immediately attempt to assist me with concern and instead would prioritize the undisturbed comfort of another passenger's jacket over my comfort and safety as a black man was both incredibly embarrassing and absolutely not the sort of treatment I would have expected on your airline."

He rounded off the post by vowing never to fly with the airline again.

In response to the Facebook post, an airline spokesperson said: "The safety and wellbeing of our passengers is of utmost importance and we do not advocate or tolerate discrimination of any kind."

They instructed the disgruntled passenger how to lodge a more formal complaint before adding: "I deeply apologise for the upsetting situation you endured and can only hope this does not happen again, regardless the airline."

The post has been shared widely in the US with many Facebook users demanding a more robust response from the airline.

MirrorOnline have contacted Lufthansa regarding the incident and are awaiting comment.

Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/black-passenger-humiliated-after-being-6577298