Nashville Flight Leaves Runway and Deplanes After Passenger Refuses to Wear Face Mask
A Southwest Airlines flight left the runway at Nashville International Airport and made everyone disembark the plane after a passenger refused to wear a face mask.
According to the Nashville Tennessean, Southwest officials called Nashville police after returning to the gate when an “argumentative” woman refused to wear a mask or exit the plane that was bound for Las Vegas.
According to witnesses, the woman shouted “I’m allowed! I’m allowed!” when she refused to put on a mask against the flight crew’s instructions.
Southwest requires everyone on board to wear masks but has had several incidents involving disruptive passengers in recent months as air travel has slowly returned.
“Shortly after pushing back from the gate, Flight 2388 from Nashville to Las Vegas returned after a customer refused to follow our face covering policy,” Dan Lanson, a Southwest spokesman, told The Tennessean.
After each of the passengers deplaned, officers went aboard and removed the woman. She was taken to the airline’s gate to be issued a refund. She was reportedly kicked out of the airport after getting her money back but was not arrested.
The flight was re-boarded and took off without incident after about one hour, the airline said.
___
(c)2020 New York Daily News
Visit New York Daily News at www.nydailynews.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
