Family: We Were Booted Off Flight Because We're Jewish

A family booted off an American Airlines flight while heading home from vacation says it was due to their religion, while the airline cites a completely different reason: an unpleasant scent. Per an American Airlines statement to Local 10 on Wednesday, Yossi Adler, wife Jennie Adler, and their toddler daughter were asked to leave a flight headed from Miami to Detroit because "several passengers complained about their body odor." The Adlers say they were told their luggage—including their daughter's stroller and car seat—would follow them, but it didn't. Yossi Adler insists there was "no body odor" and that he wants the airline to "own up to what really happened," which he thinks may have to do with the fact that they're Jewish.

Per NBC News, Yossi Adler recorded on his cellphone an interaction he says backs up his suspicion. On the recording, Adler can be heard pushing back on the body odor story to ground crew workers, after which a worker can be heard saying: "Now you told me for religious reasons you don't shower, is that what you said?" Adler's retort: "No, I didn't! I shower every day. I said you kicked me off because of religious reasons." American Airlines says it gave the family hotel and meal vouchers and rebooked them on a Thursday flight. When the family arrived back at Miami International Airport on Thursday morning, "we stopped several people in the airport and, it's embarrassing, but we asked them, 'Do you think we smell?'" Jennie Adler tells Local 10. The Adlers say they, and their luggage, made it back to Detroit later that day. (More American Airlines stories.)