American Airlines flight makes emergency landing after passengers spot lice in woman’s hair

In a bizarre incident, a TikTok creator revealed how the American Airlines flight was diverted due to a medical emergency, which was later found to be a lice infestation.

The flight, which took off from Los Angeles and was bound to land in New York, was rerouted to Phoenix. Among the passengers was Ethan Judelson, who posted a video on TikTok detailing how American Airlines did not inform the travellers of what actually happened.

In the video that reached over 1.2 million views, Judelson describes how he saw a woman causing a commotion as she rushed through the aisle towards the front as soon as the plane landed. While he was confused, no other passenger paid attention to it.

"It just seemed like one of those people who, as soon as the seatbelt sign goes off, gets up and tries to be the first to their bag," he told People, recalling the incident. "So the girl next to me ... we were both like, 'Why is she so rushed to get off? We're all getting off together, calm down."

The airlines told them that they would learn more about the situation once the plane was deboarded. However, the only thing they learned was that the flight to New York would take off in 12 hours.

After they landed in Phoenix, they got a voucher for a stay at a hotel via email from the airlines. On TikTok, Judelson mentioned two women gave him "cryptic" answers when asked about what happened.

"Let's just say it was in the best interest of everyone here that they did this. It's for the safety of the plane," they told him.

The following day, Judelson was shocked to find out from another passenger that the reason for the emergency landing was a lice outbreak. They told him the women who gave cryptic answers, saw bugs crawling in the hair of the woman seated next to them and informed the flight attendant.

After they boarded the plane again, they were assigned the same seats, which resulted in a major scene when the two women returned to the same seat where they spotted the lice.

"They would not sit in that seat," the TikToker said.

In a statement to People, the airlines confirmed the diversion of American Airlines flight 2201 on June 15, but only stated that it was "due to the medical needs of a customer."

(With inputs from agencies)