American Airlines flight was canceled after teens refused to wear masks while on board.
An American Airlines flight from North Carolina to the Bahamas was forced to cancel after a group of 30 teenagers did not comply with the Covid-19 rules. As the youngsters refused to wear face masks on board, the crew of Flight 893 had no other choice but to call it off.
As Daily Mail reports, the flight was scheduled to depart from Charlotte Douglas International Airport en route to Nassau on Monday. However, a group of “very obnoxious” Boston teenagers, aged 17 and 18, decided to sabotage it. They were believed to be on their way to the Bahamas for a graduation holiday.
It is unclear whether the schoolchildren were flying unaccompanied or were being chaperoned.
An airline spokesperson confirmed that the group was “non-compliant” with the Covid-19 rules.
Stephanie Krzywanski, a passenger traveling on the same flight, contacted News19 from the plane. At one point in the video call, a boy can be seen waving at the camera.
Krzywanski commented:
“There were a group of high school seniors celebrating their graduation who were being rowdy and not wearing their masks. What transpired was a lot of back and forth between, I assume, the parents.”
Other passengers were outraged about having their flight canceled because of incompliant kids.
Malik Banks, also a passenger traveling with Flight 893, told WSOC-TV:
“It was bad. Firstly they were yelling, they were cussing. They were being very obnoxious. It wasn’t all of them… I’d say 75 to 80 percent of them were being terrible kids.”
An American Airlines flight from Charlotte to the Bahamas was delayed at the airport for several hours, and then canceled, after a group of 30 High School seniors from Boston refused to wear masks. pic.twitter.com/1jjpqKACct
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) July 7, 2021
Another traveler, Christina Randolph, said with disappointment:
“All they had to do was follow the rules, put the mask on, sit there, no smart mouth comments. They couldn’t do it.”
American Airlines stated Flight 893 faced an “extended delay” and was rescheduled for Tuesday morning.
The other passengers were offered hotel and meal vouchers while waiting for the new flight. On the other hand, the teenagers had to spend the night at the airport as they were unable to check into a hotel due to age requirements.
Furthermore, it was revealed that before this incident, the aircraft had experienced technical difficulties, and all passengers had to change planes and were already delayed.
