A Hawaii Kai woman and her daughter are back home tonight after going through an ordeal at Tampa Airport in Florida.
A flight attendant thought the woman had the swine flu, so she and her daughter were removed from the plane.
Mitra Mostoufi and her 12-year old daughter Paige arrived at Honolulu Airport from Tampa via Denver a day late, tired, and frustrated.
"I couldn't wait to get home," said Mitra Mostoufi of Hawaii Kai.
Mitra and Paige were in Florida over the weekend for a relative's wedding, and were supposed to come home on Monday.
But they got kicked off the plane in Tampa.
"I took the wrong medication at the wrong time so my stomach reacted, and I sat down on the plane and got sick," said Mostoufi.
So she asked one of the United Airlines flight attendants for a motion sickness bag.
"And she said oh do you have the flu? No. Do you have a fever? No. What's wrong? My stomach hurts. What if I had something bad to eat?" said Mostoufi.
Mitra went to the restroom and says when she came out...
"They come out in the plane screaming get your belongings, let's go let's go, you're a health risk, you're sick. And I'm going what?" said Mostoufi.
The Mostoufis were escorted off the plane.
"I was very angry, embarrassed in front of everybody," said Mostoufi.
"They didn't have a right to do that," said Paige Mostoufi.
But United Airlines said in a statement: "The crew does have the right to remove a passenger from a flight if the person is visibly ill."
A United employee told Mitra they thought she had the swine flu.
"And right as they're telling me this they're booking me on an American flight, so i'm saying if I'm a health risk why are you sending me to American? They probably oversold, I don't know they were looking for an excuse," said Mostoufi.
Mitra says she didn't even get an apology from a United employee until a local news crew in Tampa started interviewing her.
She and Paige were then rescheduled for the same flight the next day, but says United never even offered them accommodations overnight.
The Mostoufis are Iranian-American.
When asked if she thought the ordeal had something to do with her race, she said: "Of course it could've been an issue. Right now, I don't know anything."
What they do know is they're happy to finally be back home.
"We're not going anywhere for awhile," said Mostoufi.
Mitra and her husband bob say they're still trying to decide whether to sue United Airlines.
They've already received calls from attorneys in New York who are willing to represent them.
