SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A couple who allegedly refused to wear their masks properly was caught on video yelling and swearing at JetBlue crew members as they were being escorted off a flight from Fort Lauderdale to San Diego Wednesday.
A passenger who witnessed the incident on Flight 529 recorded the intense moment and shared the video on social media. She spoke with ABC 10News about what happened before, during, and after the confrontation.
“I was boarding right behind the lady, the blonde lady, and she was just like dancing around, taking boomerangs with her two children,” Alice, who recorded the video and didn’t want to share her last name, said.
“On the way into the plane itself, the flight attendant actually asked her to tighten her son’s mask. It was like very loose and very big for him. So, they didn’t do that either.”
According to JetBlue, the couple was asked multiple times to properly wear their masks before take-off but they would not comply with the federal mask mandate.
"Her husband walked down the aisle to the outside of the plane. Then this whole mess just started happening. When he came back, he just started yelling at the flight attendant,” Alice said.
In the video shown above, the man is seen being verbally and physically aggressive toward crew members at the very front of the plane. He tells passengers there was a point when he had to wait four hours for the flight and that he was only given one warning before he was kicked off the plane.
"I'm sure you heard the whole plane like gasping,” Alice said.
Later in the video, the man's wife can also be seen swearing at crew members and talking to other passengers about what happened on the flight.
The woman tries to explain that her son had his mask down for a brief time, and they tried to comply with the rules but it was not good enough for the flight attendants.
Alice told ABC 10News that four people, the blonde woman, the man who she assumes was her husband and two children were escorted off of the plane.
"I was entertained by it. I never seen something like this before,” Alice said. “But I’m very sad about the fact that they just could complain with the federal mandate."
"The customers will not be allowed to fly JetBlue in the future," JetBlue said in a released statement Thursday.
"We apologize to our other customers on this flight for their experience during this incident. For reference, crew members are trained to speak to customers who are not following policies. If a customer refuses to wear a face mask after being asked, crew members will work to de-escalate the situation to the best of their ability to gain compliance prior to removal. The safety of each customer and crew member is our first priority, and we must work together to follow the federal mask mandate during the travel journey," the airlines' statement continued.
Alice told ABC 10News that the flight proceed as normal after the ordeal and that everyone settled in for take off. After seeing what happened on her flight, she has a simple message for other passengers.
"I just want to ask people to wear their mask, even if they're vaccinated,” Alice said.
The incident comes as President Biden announced Thursday that fines will be doubled for those who are not in compliance with federal rules surrounding mask-wearing in airports and certain modes of transportation, including many airlines.
