SAO PAULO, Brazil (Agence France-Presse) — American Airlines apologized to Brazil yesterday for one of its pilots who was detained at Sao Paulo airport, fined $12,700 dollars and released after for making an obscene gesture when he was required to be fingerprinted and photographed.
Federal police here said Dale Robbin Hersh, 52, pilot on American’s Miami-Sao Paulo flight, raised his middle finger as his photo was being taken by airport security personnel.
“He made an internationally recognized obscene gesture to the police who were photographing him,” federal police spokesman Wagner Castilho said at a press conference.
Police later showed the photo of Mr. Hersh, his middle finger raised.
Mr. Castilho said Mr. Hersh had been detained for “a serious offense” which could have brought a prison term of up to two years.
But federal prosecutor Matheus Baraldi Magnani said he asked a local magistrate to impose a fine rather than go to trial, for what he termed Mr. Hersh’s “insulting behavior.”
The judge complied, fining Mr. Hersh 36,000 reals, about $12,700, and releasing him.
The fine, said the judge, represented 150 times the Brazilian minimum monthly wage and took into account “the pilot’s financial circumstances and his insult to national pride and the federal police.”
He said American Airlines agreed to pay Mr. Hersh’s fine, which would be contributed to a social service organization.
Mr. Hersh, although released from custody late yesterday, would not be allowed to leave the country until American Airlines’ check cleared, court sources said.
American Airlines issued a statement apologizing for the incident.
“The company apologizes to the Brazilian government, to the port authorities, to the federal police, and to whoever else feels they were disrespected,” said the statement, which went on to stress that the captain “did not intend any disrespect.”
Brazil had ordered all Americans to be photographed and fingerprinted when entering the country — a tit-for-tat response to the U.S. move to photograph and fingerprint all people entering the United States on a visa.
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