Arrests: The Wrong Question

Tilford E. Dudley, 62, readily admits that "I always tease pretty girls." So when an American Airlines stewardess paused alongside his seat on a Boston-to-Washington flight two weeks ago and asked his destination, he flashed an el fin grin and replied with a question of his own: "How long does it take to Cuba?" A number of people have been escorted off airplanes in recent months for asking similar questions—Marlon Brando, for one. But Dudley was not quite prepared for what happened next.

Minutes after his exchange with the stewardess, three Massachusetts state police appeared in the aisle. They hand...

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