At first American Airline passengers through it was an extreme reaction to the Coronavirus scare. Photo / Ross Sokolovski, Unsplash
At first American Airline passengers through it was an extreme reaction to the Coronavirus scare. Photo / Ross Sokolovski, Unsplash
A passenger has been removed from a US flight for refusing to take off a military style gas mask , according to Texas media.
On Thursday a domestic flight from Dallas to Houston was disrupted after a man wearing unusual headgear sent other passengers into a panic.
Attendants reportedly toldthe passenger to remove the gas mask, but he refused over health reasons. The man was eventually removed from the plane, but not before the impasse delayed the flight by almost an hour.
"I looked up and saw a guy coming onto the plane wearing a full gas mask, which was kind of odd," passenger Joseph Say told Houston-based radio station KTRK. "People start talking in the back of the plane," he said.
"You couldn't identify any features on him. People were worried he had sneaked something on board and that he had the mask for his own safety."
Passengers initially thought it was the passenger's extreme reaction to the coronavirus scare, or some other health concern. However the gas mask did not appear to be functional.
"I noticed it didn't have the filter, so that didn't really make sense," Mr Say told the radio station.
"What we heard from the lady sitting next to him was he said he wanted to make a statement. I don't know what the statement was."
