A US federal judge has cleared American Airlines of wrongdoing in a lawsuit by six Iraqi-American men who claim their nationality was the reason behind the cancellation of a flight.

US District Judge Paul Borman concluded the decision by the captain to return a flight to the gate was not arbitrary and capricious.

The six men, residents of Michigan, were employees of a security firm and were returning from San Diego following a training session with US Military personal.

The men, passengers aboard flight 590, claimed the flight crew wrongly decided they were a security risk based on racial profiling through discrimination based on race and national origin.

In Borman’s judgement, he claimed that one of the men covered his face with a blanked and stared menacingly at flight attendants during safety instructions.

He said that the unusual actions by the passengers reasonably concerned the flight attendants and justified their calls to the pilot and justified his decision to return to the gate.

The judge said the flight was rescheduled for the following morning and other passengers were boarded and flew to Chicago without incident.