Several students from the United Arab Emirates were removed from a flight from Charlotte to Washington, D.C., on Thursday after the pilot alerted airport police to a security concern.

About 5 p.m., the pilot of US Airways Flight 1768 asked officers to help remove a group of people from the plane because of a "perceived security concern," according to a statement Friday from the federal Transportation Security Administration.

The pilot pointed out the concern "out of an abundance of caution," a US Airways spokeswoman said Friday.

Several people taken off the plane told WJLA-TV in Washington they were students and that they want an apology from the airline. WJLA reported the students were asked where they were from and whether they had military training.

A new flight crew was brought in and checked baggage was rescreened after the incident.

Local law enforcement and the TSA determined the people taken off the plane were not a threat, the TSA statement said.

The flight was scheduled to leave shortly after 4:30 p.m. but did not take off until about 9:30 p.m. and landed uneventfully at Reagan Washington National Airport about 10:20 p.m.

The airline's customer relations department is working with delayed passengers.

Jibril Hough, a spokesman for the Islamic Center of Charlotte, called Friday for US Airways to mandate diversity training for its employees.

"They provide service to a vast array of customers from different corners of the States and the world who don't all look the same or have the same backgrounds," Hough said.

Hough noted that next year's Democratic National Convention in Charlotte - a US Airways hub - will bring a diverse group of people to the city.

If an incident like the one that happened Thursday happens then, he said, it could give Charlotte a bad name: "Is this the image Charlotte wants to project to the rest of the world?" Observer staff writer Tim Funk contributed.