An American Airlines plane flying from Miami to London had to turn back to the US because of a disruptive passenger who "refused to comply with the federal mask mandate", the airline's corporate communications manager Laura Masvidal stated.
"The flight landed safely at MIA where local law enforcement met the aircraft. We thank our crew for their professionalism and apologise to our customers for the inconvenience," an official statement read.
The maskless passenger, which caused the whole ordeal, was described by CBS Miami as a woman in her forties. She was escorted off the plane but has not, so far, been charged by the police. However, she was reportedly added to the company's internal no-fly list pending further investigation.
At the same time, CBS reported there were another two maskless customers, and the couple was suspected of being intoxicated.
Although only three weeks into 2022, US carriers have already reported 151 incidents with unruly passengers since the beginning of this year. At least 92 of them were mask-related, according to data from the Federal Aviation Administration.