An American Airlines flight to London from Miami turned around when a passenger refused to put on a mask Wednesday.
Flight 38 was over an hour into its journey to Heathrow Airport when it turned around and went back to Miami International Airport, CBS Miami reported Thursday.
Police dispatch asked officers to meet the aircraft at Gate D14 due to a passenger apparently not respecting the mask mandate. When it landed, over 100 passengers were told they had to exit the plane.
Several of them did not know why the plane returned to Miami.
“Disappointed. They wouldn’t really say anything and I don’t think they told the flight attendants anything because all they would say is there was an extreme incident and they had to turn around,” one passenger told the outlet.
“They just told us to get off and the police were there,” another commented.
According to the American Airlines website, United States federal law requires individuals wear a mask at all times indoors at the airport and on board one’s flight, regardless of a person’s vaccination status:
If you refuse to wear one, you may be denied boarding and future travel on American. You may also face penalties under federal law. These rules do not apply to children under 2, or if you have a disability that prevents you from wearing a face covering and meet the exemption requirements.
American Airlines issued a statement following the incident, writing, “American Airlines flight 38 with service from Miami (MIA) to London (LHR) returned to MIA due to disruptive customer refusing to comply with the federal mask requirement.”
“The flight landed at MIA where local law enforcement met the aircraft. We thank our crew for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience,” the airline said.
The flight was canceled and passengers had to find alternate arrangements, the CBS article stated.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden recently complained citizens had stopped wearing masks during the coronavirus pandemic while promising to send better-fitting masks to Americans at no charge, Breitbart News reported January 13.
“I think it’s part of your patriotic duty,” he noted about mask-wearing although he added, “it’s not that comfortable” and “it’s a pain in the neck” to wear one.
Previously, Biden had removed his own mask while conversing with reporters, stating, “This looks stupid.”
In December, airline corporations demanded passengers wear masks between bites of food and sips of beverages, Breitbart News reported.
“In compliance with TSA’s orders to wear a mask ‘between bites and sips,’ Delta Air Lines and American Airlines are among the corporations that state mask-wearing must occur while eating and drinking,” the article said.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.