A man was kicked off an American Airlines flight after he refused to remove the military-style gas mask he was wearing.
His choice of headgear “panicked” people, according to a fellow passenger, as it was feared he had brought something onboard and was wearing the mask for his own protection.
The incident occurred onboard a domestic US flight from Dallas to Houston on Thursday 20 January.
Cabin crew demanded the man remove the mask, according to local media, but he refused on “health” grounds.
Fellow traveller Joseph Say shared a picture of the unnamed man on Twitter, which showed his features were completely obscured by the eery-looking black mask.
“Just FYI flight 2212 to Houston was delayed an hour because you let this guy on the plane wearing a gas mask,” he tweeted. “This then panicked people on the plane and we had to wait for him to be escorted off.”
He told Houston radio station KTRK: “I looked up and saw a guy coming onto the plane wearing a full gas mask, which was kind of odd.
”People start talking in the back of the plane.
“You couldn’t identify any features on him. People were worried he had sneaked something onboard and that he had the mask for his own safety.”
Mr Say added that, while passengers originally assumed the mask must be an overreaction to the coronavirus outbreak, the device didn’t actually appear to be operational as it didn’t have a filter.
The man was removed from the flight and rebooked onto another service, and after an hour’s delay the service took off as normal.
“The passenger was rebooked on the next flight to Houston, and flew without the mask on Thursday evening,” an American Airlines spokesperson told The Independent.
It is believed his decision to wear the gas mask may have been a PR stunt.
