Yes, passengers are recially profiled (In fact after the UK bombings last year, when people were randomly searched, they were given this particular reason for being singled out very politely). They have a briefing from higher ups as to who they should single out based on various criteria -- apperance being one of them. It is demeaning, but, may be essential for safety and if done without malice, is not anything more than an irritant. In the case of NW 42, if the passengers were moving about when the seat belt sign was on and were also "using" their mobiles, they needed stern warnings for sure. You have to abide by the rules when traveling like this. What is incredible is that the pilot called fighter jets and also assessed the situation to be so grave when nothing came of it. The Air Marshall could have easily assessed the risk (why would a terrorist attract attention to himself if he plans some violence?). I wonder how much it would have cost NW or the Dutch authorities to satisfy the captain's paranoiaa ???
