Photo: Cooper NEILL / AFP / Getty Images
The flight 38 of American Airlines, a Boeing 777 with 129 passengers and 14 crew members returned to Miami airport late Wednesday within one hour of take off, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware.
The return was due to a customer who refused to comply with the federal requirement to wear a mask, the airline said in a release.
“The flight landed safely in Miami, where local law enforcement met with the plane. We thank our crew for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience,” the airline said.
The traveler who refused to wear a mask has been banned from flying with the airline and is awaiting investigation.
Since the end of the year 2020 the crews have faced situations of violence on all routes and airports in the United States which has forced the unions of flight attendants to request the Department of Justice that investigates and punishes the most serious cases.
Complaints of indiscipline behavior on planes skyrocketed until reaching the record figure of 5,981 last year, more than 71% linked to disputes over a federal mask mandate that went into effect early last year, even though airlines had required them since the pandemic began.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that it would impose fines on passengers who have been unruly during travel. The proposed fines add up to just over half a million dollars.
In May American Airlines and Southwest took matters into their own hands and decided to close their service alcoholic beverages on flights in an effort to stop a wave of passenger indiscipline and violence after flight attendants received everything from insults to beatings by some travelers.
Half of the incidents have been related to flights to or from vacation destinations in Florida.
Of the close of 4, 000 reports of indiscipline, almost 3, 000 correspond to cases of passengers who refused to use a mask correctly during the trip.
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