Michael Doyle, 19, was set to travel with his friend Chaz Petteway from Reagan National Airport in Washington to San Juan, Puerto Rico on Thursday, but the pair hit a speed bump when Jet Blue prevented Doyle from boarding his flight.
Doyle told FOX 5 News that he was denied access to the plane because he had been saying “bomb” as a result of his Tourette syndrome.
The two were planning to go to a Revolutionary War reenactment in San Juan.
“It was a really big deal for us,” Doyle said. “It was going to be fun.”
They alerted the TSA and Jet Blue of Doyle’s “ticking,” or involuntary outbursts or repetition of words.
“With all the stuff in the news about the Boston bombings and stuff, I started ticking 'bomb,' because when I get nervous and anything on my mind will come out,” Doyle said in an interview with FOX 5 News.
The travelers went through security without a problem, they said, because the TSA was aware of the situation. However, when it was time to get on their flight, Doyle was not allowed to board.
Jet Blue officials told the Daily News in a statement that the teenager was “deemed a safety concern by the pilot in command after using the word ‘bomb.’ After further investigation, the situation was deemed innocuous and our special services team reached out to work with the customer directly to coordinate alternative travel arrangements.”
But, for Doyle and Petteway, it was too late.
“It doesn’t make up for the embarrassment, or the fact that we missed something we’d been planning for two years,” Doyle said.
Jet Blue offered him a free, round-trip ticket on another Jet Blue flight, FOX 5 reported, but the airline couldn’t guarantee that something like this would not happen again.
"I mean this has happened multiple times in my life... And it's... it just...it hurts," Doyle said.
While Petteway had been allowed on the flight, he instead decided to stay back with his buddy.http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1329135.1367095443!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/tourette28n-1-web.jpg
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