Continental Airlines officials meet civil aviation secretary

Facing police action for breaching Indian protocol by frisking former President A P J
Abdul Kalam, Continental Airlines senior officials today met civil aviation secretary to present their version of the incident.

The meeting with civil aviation secretary MM Nambiar, which lasted about an hour, was attended by the US carrier's India head, Laurent Recoura and two US Embassy officials.
    
Neither the American Airlines officials, nor those from the ministry made any statement on what transpired at the meeting. The civil aviation ministry has filed an FIR against four officials of the Airline for breaching Indian protocol on April 21, when Kalam was frisked before boarding a US-bound Continental Airlines' flight.
    
The four people named in the FIR include airlines' India head Laurent Recoura, security in-charge Jaideep, station manager Allen Field and area security manager Cynthia.
    
Yesterday, the American transportation regulatory body Transport Security Administration (TSA) had come out strongly in support of the frisking of Kalam by the airline, saying that it had acted in compliance with the regulations as Indian list of VIPs "does not mirror" US' requirements for passengers that are exempted from pre-board screening when travelling aboard US commercial aircraft.