Because a woman absolutely does not want to wear her corona mask, an American Airlines plane turns back over the Atlantic after almost two hours and flies back.
Miami – The passengers on an American Airlines Boeing 777 had certainly imagined this trip differently. Once the plane is in the air, not much can go wrong – one thinks. But the passengers on the way from Miami to London were taught better on Thursday (01/20/2022) when the plane they were on suddenly turned around mid-flight and flew back to Miami.
The reason: A passenger vehemently refused to wear an FFP2 mask in accordance with the Corona regulation *. The airline said the plane had to turn back before crossing Bermuda because “a disruptive customer refused to wear the required mask.” The flight, which was actually eight hours long, ended for the crew and passengers after just three hours in Miami instead of London.
Corona incident on the plane: police receive mask refusal after landing
In Miami, the police were already waiting for the mask refuser. Officials escorted the passenger off board without incident, a police officer told US broadcaster CNN. The aircraft had a total of 129 passengers and 14 crew members on board.
The flight was eventually canceled and the airline released a statement shortly thereafter, thanking the crew for their professionalism and apologizing to the passengers for the unpleasant incident. The customers were all rebooked on other flights, a spokesman later told Dailymail. Many were only able to continue their journey the next day and were accommodated in hotels.
The woman has been “blacklisted” at least pending the completion of the investigation into the incident and will not be allowed to fly with the airline until further notice. It is not yet clear what the legal consequences are.
Corona mask on the plane: aviation authority has a “zero tolerance policy”
In January last year, the US aviation authority FAA issued a zero-tolerance policy for violations of the Corona regulation. Previously, numerous flight attendants had reported verbal and physical abuse by travelers who refused to follow regulations such as wearing masks.
In Germany, too, there are always incidents due to the corona rules on airplanes. At Frankfurt Airport*, Lufthansa recently threw an entire family out of the plane because a child (2) was not wearing a mask*. (iwe/afp)
