Footage from a recent Spirit Airlines flight in Florida shows a flight attendant threatening to kick a family of four off a plane.
The flight attendant claimed that the 2-year-old in the family was not wearing a face mask.
Passengers who were on the flight from Orlando to Atlantic City were forced to leave the plane before eventually being told to go back on the aircraft, according to the New York Post.
The clip, which has made the rounds on social media, shows the flight attendant telling the family that they need to leave the plane for “non-compliance” with the face mask rule. In the video, a toddler can be seen sitting on her pregnant mother’s lap and eating while the father pulls his face mask down to talk to the flight attendant.
The father eventually pulls the mask up over his mouth and nose, but the flight attendant can be heard saying, “She’s not wearing a mask.”
“The baby?” the mom replies.
A passenger sitting next to the family said, “a lot of kids aren’t wearing masks.”
“You’ve been sitting next to me. Was I wearing the mask the whole time? Was I wearing the mask the whole time, everybody?” the father of the family said.
“I’ll make sure he wears it. Everything is going to be fine,” said a man who can be seen filming the incident.
The mom argued, “That’s only a child and a 2-year-old.”
“It’s not my choice. You have to take your stuff and get off,” the airline worker insisted, repeatedly saying the family was in “non-compliance with the mask policy.”
“We’re done talking. The pilot wants you off, so you have to get off,” she said.
The mom continued to plead that “She’s a baby. She just turned 2 a month ago. She’s been trying to wear it.”
According to the video, the flight attendant threatened to call the police before walking away.
In another video, police can be seen escorting the family off the airplane. The Orlando Police Department confirmed that it was contacted about the incident on the Spirit flight.
“Upon arrival, officers saw that the flight was in the middle of de-boarding. Our officers stood by, while Spirit Airlines resolved the issue,” a spokesman said.
A representative of Spirit Airlines said the parents broke the airline’s face mask policy, but the incident was not caught on camera. The rep also said the family was allowed to reboard the flight and travel to their planned destination.
“The only thing that happened with the flight attendant was that after two hours of a delay, there was a crew change required and somebody captured police who had come to the gate for the general situation locking down the concourse at the same time as this flight attendant was going on to their next assignment,” airline spokesman Field Sutton said in an interview, per New York Post.
Sutton also addressed claims made on social media that those kicked off the flight included a flight attendant who was involved in the incident, saying the individual left due to a crew change.
“There is no truth to claims that a flight attendant ‘wasn’t allowed to get back on board’ or that police became involved with a flight attendant. Orlando police have stated publicly that, though present at the gate, they did not take an active role in this situation,” Sutton continued.
The face mask policy for Spirit Airlines states that all passengers must wear face masks over their mouth and nose, except when eating or drinking. Children who are two and under are exempt from this policy.
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