US airlines plane bound for London turns around mid-flight. Find out why?
Published: Jan 21, 2022, 02:43 IST | Updated: Jan 21, 2022, 02:43 IST
An American Airlines plane
An unruly passenger, who refused to wear a mask, forced a US airlines plane bound for London to turn around mid-flight on Wednesday.
The mask-related disruption occurred on an American Airlines flight.
In a statement, American Airlines, said, "American Airlines flight 38 with service from Miami (MIA) to London (LHR) returned to MIA due to a disruptive customer refusing to comply with the federal mask requirement."
The airline called the Miami-Dade Police Department about a female passenger, who refused to wear a mask, the department told CNN.
At Miami International Airport, the local law enforcement officials took the passenger in custody, the airline said.
"Once the plane made it to the gate, the passenger was escorted off the plane by MDPD officers without incident. The passenger was then dealt with administratively by American Airlines staff," said Detective A Colome from the Miami-Dade Police Department.
The flight had landed back in Miami one hour and 48 minutes after departing, as per flight tracking site FlightAware.
After the incident, the flight, which was being operated on a Boeing 777 aircraft, was canceled. There were 129 passengers and 14 crew members on board the flight. There were no injuries to customers or crew members.
In another statement, the airlines said, "We thank our crew for their professionalism and apologise to our customers for the inconvenience."