RELATED: American Airlines Is Getting Rid of This on Flights, Effective Immediately. An American Airlines flight was about an hour into its journey from Miami to London on Jan. 20 when it was turned around, The New York Times reported. Flight trackers from FlightAware show that the Boeing 777 plane, which was carrying 129 passengers and 14 crew members, was roughly 500 miles into its 4,400-mile flight when it reversed course off the coast of North Carolina. Flight AAL38 returned to Miami International Airport, where police officers were waiting, according to the newspaper. RELATED: American Is Cutting Flights From These 6 Major Cities, Starting in February. According to American Airlines, a COVID mask dispute is what caused the flight’s abrupt cancellation. Under a mandate from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), all passengers traveling with U.S. airlines are still required to wear a face covering aboard flights, through at least March 18 of this year. “American Airlines flight 38 with service from Miami (MIA) to London (LHR) returned to MIA due to a disruptive customer refusing to comply with the federal mask requirement,” the airline said in a statement, per CNN. “The flight landed safely at MIA where local law enforcement met the aircraft. We thank our crew for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.” The Miami-Dade Police Department escorted the non-compliant passenger, who officers described as a woman in her 40s, off the aircraft upon arrival back to the airport, as reported by Insider. Miami-Dade Detective Argemis Colome told the news outlet that the passenger was not detained or charged as a result of the incident. “She was escorted off the plane, but there was no further incident after that,” Colome said. “Her outcome was pretty much dealt with by the American Airlines staff. They dealt with that administratively and that was it.” American Airlines said the traveler has been banned from flying with the airline, pending investigation. The woman was placed on the airline’s “internal refuse list,” which operates as a no-fly list for unruly passengers, particularly those who refuse to follow the mandatory mask policy. This is not the first time American Airlines has banned travelers for not wearing coverings aboard their planes, but the carrier has refused to reveal just how many people are on its list. Other U.S. airlines have their own records as well, with Delta Air Lines having about 1,200 passengers on its internal no-fly list as of May 2021, Frontier having more than 830, United having 750, and Alaska Airlines having 542, according to the Los Angeles Times. RELATED: For more travel news delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb Mask incidents on planes are hardly uncommon these days. Out of 5,981 unruly passenger reports from airline crews in 2021, 4,290 were related to masks, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). And while numbers appear to already be lower at the start of this year compared to the record highs seen this same time last year, these issues are still occurring. The agency has received 151 unruly passenger reports as of Jan. 18, with 91 of these incidents being related to face masks. “Let me be clear: I have zero tolerance for dangerous behavior on airplanes,” FAA Administrator Steve Dickson tweeted on Dec. 16. “It could cost you a big fine or jail time. Wear a mask, respect the crew and follow their instructions. They are there for your safety.” RELATED: The CDC Just Banned You From Bringing This on Flights.
