American Airlines passenger refuses to wear mask correctly during Charlotte to Washington D.C flight, insisting the safety mandate is akin to tyranny. Disconcert ensues.
A female passenger traveling on American Airlines Flight 2198 from Charlotte to Washington D.C. has been captured on video engaging in a verbal argument with fellow passengers after refusing to properly wear a mandatory face mask amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Screamed the un-identified female passenger as she stood facing passengers sitting behind her, ‘If we don’t stand up it’s only going to get worse.’
In the background a passenger could be heard saying, ‘get her off’.
Explained Jonathan Asfour who witnessed Sunday’s unfolding incident, ‘All I saw and what I woke up to was her screaming about how this was tyranny, and we have to stand up for this’.
According to Asfour, the woman at some point had also said, ‘this is tyranny.’
UPDATE: she was escorted by the police as soon as we landed. Amazing response from the security abord the flight. Passengers were cheering, one of them even yelled “Welcome to DC”#WashingtonDC @PoPville @WashProbs pic.twitter.com/yMKWXhlqEP
— Emir Sfaxi (@EmirSX) January 11, 2021
Increasing acts of defiance
Matters came to the fore when passengers sitting on the same row as the un-identified woman voiced concerns after she continued to improperly wear her mask below her nose.
When flight attendants asked her to fix it, she refused. It was only after a plain clothed Federal Air Marshall ‘intervened’ the female passenger dressed in green (see video below) complied.
‘He calmed her down,’ Asfour told 10tv. ‘He was the only person able to do that. The stewardess and flight attendants couldn’t do anything. She was just going crazy.’
Asfour, a Washington D.C., resident added he had increasingly noticed more acts of defiance like this are becoming the norm – clearly referencing the recent Capitol riot.
Another video (see immediately below) captured the woman telling passengers, ‘If you’re that scared, you should not be sitting here.’
Moments later, she added, ‘I already had the virus and I already had the vaccine and people need to stand up!’
The woman didn’t appear to provide any evidence of having been vaccinated.
@AmericanAir thank you to the marshals and flight staff that made me feel safe on my flight despite the passenger that attempted to make everyone feel very unsafe, mid flight. Wearing a mask is not tyranny. It is altruism. pic.twitter.com/3rfzXccTU8
— Liza (@lizakhox) January 11, 2021
No fly list
Once the flight landed, American Airlines says the passenger was escorted off the plane by Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority Police as passengers cheered on. The passenger is also being placed on the airline’s ‘no-fly list’ pending further investigation.
Airlines have been enforcing strict measures on flights to limit the spread of coronavirus during the pandemic, with many requiring passengers to wear a mask or face covering at all times when on board.
Last month, it was revealed that three major U.S. airlines—Delta, United and JetBlue—have banned more than 1,200 passengers from future flights for refusing to wear a mask on board.
