American Airlines flight diverted to Phoenix due to passenger’s head lice infestation

Passengers on a New York-bound American Airlines flight had to wait 12 hours in Phoenix, Arizona due to a bug infestation. Photo / 123RF

An American Airlines flight bound for New York from Los Angeles had to make an emergency landing in Phoenix after head lice were seen crawling in a passenger’s hair.

TikTok content creator Ethan Judelson recalled what happened during the flight to New York in a video, which has now garnered over 1.2 million views on TikTok.

Judelson first posted a short video of him sitting at the airport with the caption: “I have been at the airport for 12 hours because my flight was grounded because the lady next to me had such an awful case of lice that we had to land in Phoenix, Arizona.”

After several pleas from users wanting more details, Judelson shared the full story in a now viral video.

Initially, Judelson claimed American Airlines did not share any specific details about why the plane had to land in Phoenix.

At first, he found the emergency landing a bit bizarre, but the passengers and crew seemed calm despite the delay.

“I look around, no one’s on the ground, no one’s freaking out. I’m like, ‘It can’t be that dire’,” he explained.

However, one passenger acted strangely. Judelson shared, “But we land, and as soon as we land, this woman across the aisle from me shoots up and rushes to the front of the plane.”

He also said in an exclusive interview with People magazine, “It just seemed like one of those people who, as soon as the seatbelt sign goes off, gets up and tries to be the first to their bag.”

“So the girl next to me ... we were both like, ‘Why is she so rushed to get off? We’re all getting off together, calm down’.”

Judelson didn’t think too much about the passenger and the emergency landing until they reached the gate.

All the passengers had limited knowledge of the incident because the airline did not provide much information other than the need for an emergency landing.

@ethanforyou

Replying to @Ana kyriakos i keep asking myself what i would have done if i had seen the bugs and honstly idk

♬ original sound - Ethan Judelson

He shared in the video that the cabin crew said more details would be provided at the gate, but upon arriving, the staff just informed them that they would have to spend 12 hours in Phoenix to wait for the next flight.

Passengers received an email with a voucher for the hotel they would be staying in for the night and $12 to spend on food.

However, Judelson claims he noticed two women acting suspiciously who seemed like they knew more about the incident.

He tried to ask the two passengers what happened, but was only answered cryptically. “They were like, ‘Let’s just say it was in the best interest of everyone here that they did this. It’s for the safety of the plane’.”

The next morning, Judelson overheard from one of the passengers the real reason why they had to land in Phoenix: a lice outbreak.

This information about the incident spread through “word of mouth”, as he also overheard another set of passengers discuss the situation at the TSA line.

“I wasn’t sure and wasn’t going to say anything at TSA,” he says in the interview with People. “I heard them talking about it again, and then tapped them on the shoulder and was like, ‘Did you say lice?’”

The passengers confirmed the information and shared that the two girls had been sitting next to the passenger who had hurriedly left the flight, and they found bugs crawling in her hair.

“Apparently those two girls, they saw bugs crawling out of the woman’s hair ... and alerted the flight attendant,” Judelson recalled in the TikTok video.

A spokesperson for American Airlines said via a statement to People: “On June 15, American Airlines flight 2201 with service from Los Angeles (LAX) to New York (JFK) diverted to Phoenix (PHX) due to the medical needs of a customer.”

American Airlines haven’t issued a statement about the incident and the passengers later arrived safely in New York.