American Airlines Pilot Turns Flight Around After Customer Refused To Wear Mask

An American Airlines flight from Miami to London was turned around on Wednesday after a passenger refused to wear their mask in accordance with the COVID-19 policy.

There were 129 passengers aboard American Airlines Flight 38, which returned to Miami International Airport about an hour into the trip. The flight landed at the airport around 9:24 p.m. local time, where members of the Miami-Dade Police Department were waiting to escort the disruptive female passenger off the plane.

“The flight landed safely at MIA where local law enforcement met the aircraft. We thank our crew for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience,” American Airlines said in a statement.

Although police responded to the scene, the passenger was not arrested. Instead, authorities treated the incident as a disturbance call and handed the woman over to American Airlines to deal with the matter administratively.

As a result, the woman was placed on the airline’s no-fly list pending an investigation. The incident was also reported to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The flight, which included 14 crew members, was canceled, and travelers were booked on other flights.

The latest incident comes as airlines continue to experience an uptick in unruly passengers.

In October 2021, an American Airlines flight from New York to Orange County, California, was forced to land at Denver International Airport after a passenger assaulted a flight attendant over the COVID-19 mask policy. Upon landing, the passenger was arrested by authorities, and the flight attendant was treated at a local hospital.

In 2021, the FAA received 5,981 reports of unruly passengers with over 71% tied to the mask mandates issued for aircrafts.