An American Airlines flight to London from Miami was forced to turn around after a female passenger refused to wear her face mask.
The plane, carrying 129 passengers, was about an hour and half into the flight when it headed back to Miami International Airport where it was met by police.
The woman, in her 40s, was not arrested as she did not break any local law but American Airlines crew turned the plane around as she refused to follow the federal mask mandate.
Her flight was cancelled as a result and she was put on an American Airlines' internal no-fly list pending further investigation, while other travellers were put in hotels while they rebook their journey.
"Once the plane made it to the gate, the passenger was escorted off the plane by MDPD officers without incident. The passenger was then dealt with administratively by American Airlines staff," said Detective A. Colome from the Miami-Dade Police Department, reported CNN.
Passengers spoke of their surprise as they found themselves returning to Miami mid-flight.
"Everyone was shocked," one person told WFOR-TV.
Another disappointed traveller said: "They wouldn't really say anything, and I don't believe they told the flight attendants anything either because they said all they could say was there was an extreme incident with a passenger and they had to turn around."
American Airlines issued a statement where it "apologised" to its customers for the cancellation of the flight.
It told MirrorOnline: “American Airlines flight 38 with service from Miami (MIA) to London (LHR) returned to MIA due to disruptive customer refusing to comply with the federal mask requirement.
"The flight landed at MIA where local law enforcement met the aircraft. We thank our crew for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.”
Last December, a man was kicked off a plane after donning women's red underwear as a face mask, prompting others to walk off the aircraft in solidarity with him.
A person captured footage of staff confronting the man in question, Adam Jenne, 38, before the flight from Fort Lauderdale to Washington took off.
In the video, the flight attendant can be heard saying: "You're going to have to come off the plane. We're not going to let you travel."
The footage, obtained by Fox4, sees Jenne asking "Why", as the staff replies: "You're not in mask compliance."
Jenne, from Florida, claimed the underwear was within TSA guidelines and he wore it despite disagreeing with the rule which asks passengers to wear masks on planes.
