The professor solved differential equations on the plane. Flight delayed by two hours due to the threat of terrorist attack

^{Guido Menzio, Professor of Economics, University of Pennsylvania}

On the evening of May 5, the plane of local airlines American Airlines (flight 3950) was preparing for an ordinary 40-minute flight from Philadelphia to Syracuse (New York). Several dozen passengers took their seats. There was nothing unusual on board until a suspicious man about 40 years old came into the cabin, with curly hair, dark skin and an exotic foreign accent. Immersed in thought, he sat down, took out a notebook and began to write something intently, writes The Washington Post .

The first to be suspected was a 30-year-old blond American woman who sat next to her in Vietnamese clothes and a red bag. She saw strange symbols and calculations in her notebook. The woman took courage and tried to start a conversation with a stranger, but he answered with monosyllabic phrases and clearly did not want to make contact. It was extremely suspicious.

The woman showed ingenuity and courage. She pretended to be reading a book, but she herself managed to secretly pass a note to the stewardess with a warning for the crew.
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The crew quickly navigated the situation. The flight was delayed for half an hour without explanation, then the plane suddenly turned around and headed back to the terminal. The woman was removed from the flight and escorted to a special room, and via an intercom the passengers were announced that the flight was delayed for some formal reasons.

Then an aircraft pilot appeared in the cabin, he escorted the real culprit of the delay - a suspicious dark-skinned passenger to another room to talk with an agent. He politely explained to the citizen that the reason for the delay was the testimony of his neighbor in the chair, who reported the encrypted notes. Therefore, the agent said gently, he is now regarded as a terrorist suspect.

Guido Menzio - he was the suspect - laughed and explained that the notes are not a cipher or notes in Arabic at all. It's just math, namely differential computing. Guido Menzio himself is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, well known for his work on the theory of search in the field of microeconomics. Last year, he even received the prestigious Carlo Alberto Medal award as the most promising Italian economist under 40 years old.

The professor explained to the agent that he was flying to Ontario for a scientific conference, where his presentation was scheduled with a presentation of scientific work on the prediction of the economic effect of nominal prices and price dispersion to achieve equilibrium with the given parameters. Perhaps the pretty blonde neighbor didn’t know much about mathematics - and just didn’t understand that the professor was testing the properties of the developed economic model. Who knows, maybe she is not able to distinguish differential equations from the Arabic language at all?

Menzio showed records - and he was allowed to return to his place.

In the end, the plane did take off after more than two hours from the original schedule. The woman no longer appeared on board (she asked to transfer her to another flight).

The professor said in an interview with The Washington Post that he was treated politely, but still such an incident bothers him as a possible sign of paranoia and xenophobia encompassing society. If a person's appearance is suspicious, then even the mathematical formulas in his notebook can become the basis for questioning.