As some fliers grapple with the coronavirus scare or just suffer from a general apprehension about flying, you can imagine the … uh … let’s call it concern, when somebody boards a flight wearing a gas mask.
And refuses to take it off.
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Needless to say, that scenario caused some panic among passengers on American Airlines flight 2122 from Dallas to Houston on Thursday. Passenger Joseph Say said that some passengers were worried the man had sneaked something onboard and that the mask was “for his own safety.”
“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,” Say told KTRK in Texas. “I’m not sure what his goals were.”
Frankly, the man looked scary. The gas mask was all black and completely covered his face as he walked up and down the aisle. The man had just flown from Los Angeles to Dallas without incident and without the gas mask.
When asked by a flight attendant to remove the face mask, the man refused, causing a one-hour delay as security escorted him from the plane.
@AmericanAir , Just FYI flight 2212 to Houston was delayed an hour because you let this guy on the plane wearing a gas mask. This then panicked people on the plane and we had to wait for him to be escorted off. @abc13houston @KHOU @HoustonChron @KPRC2 @FOX26Houston #trainbetter pic.twitter.com/mZkWea606d
— Joseph D S (@ThePlatypusesTX) January 31, 2020
Ironically, other than disobeying orders from the flight crew, the man did nothing wrong. American Airline officials told KTRK the man was later rebooked onto another flight to Houston.
An American Airlines spokesperson told Fox News it was “a PR stunt,” although Say has his doubts.
“My gut reaction was that he was probably worried about the coronavirus and had put on the gas mask as an overkill kind of protection,” Say said.
