‘I hope you get eaten by an alligator!’ Passengers heckle man being kicked off a plane after he refused to wear a mask and forced JetBlue flight from Cancun to be diverted to Florida
- A passenger on the JetBlue aircraft refused to wear their mask during a flight
- The aircraft which was flying between New York to Cancun was forced to divert
- The disruptive passenger was deplaned in Florida before the flight continued
This is the moment a man is heckled by fed-up passengers after he refused to wear his mask and the airline made an unscheduled landing to take him off the flight.
The incident took place onboard a JetBlue aircraft which had been flying to Cancun, Mexico when it was forced to divert to Florida.
Several passengers including Lawrence T Redick IV, 22, from New York filmed the scenes as the delayed passengers vented their frustrations.
The footage shows a flight attendant standing next to the offending passenger, telling him: ‘Let’s go, get up, let’s go.’
Disgruntled passengers on a JetBlue flight to Cancun, Mexico, heckled a man who refused to wear a mask and forced the aircraft to be diverted to Florida so he could be thrown off
The aircraft was diverted to Florida because the passenger repeatedly removed his mask
Other passengers can be seen filming the anti-masker and shouting: ‘Get him out of here,’ and: ‘Shame!’
Moments later, after two sheriffs walk up the aisle behind the flight attendant, the passenger – who is dressed in a black t-shirt and straw hat -can be seen getting up from his seat.
Passengers erupt into cheering and clap their hands while others shout ‘boo’ as the man slowly makes his way off the plane.
As he is exiting, one hilarious person onboard shouts: ‘I hope you get eaten by an alligator!’ prompting an outburst of laughter.
Redick added: ‘I started filming after we landed in Florida.
‘Me and my family were on our way to Cancun and the passenger initially wore a mask to get on the flight but during the flight, he kept taking it off.
‘The flight attendants and the pilot made two announcements about the passenger saying that if he didn’t keep his mask on then they would have to make an emergency landing and get him off.
‘Sure enough, he didn’t keep the mask on and so we had to land early and then he put his mask on to leave.
Passengers onboard the flight said they were on the ground in Florida for 90 minutes
‘We were on the plane for roughly three hours before we landed early and then we had to stay on the plane in Florida for about an hour to an hour-and-a-half because of this.’
Almost 3,000 people have commented on the footage which was uploaded to TikTok on Monday. More than 60,000 people have liked the short video and more than 2,500 users have shared the story.
Redick captioned his video using text-to-speak software tom provide commentary about what was happening.
He wrote: ‘Some D head didn’t wanna wear a mask on the plan so we had to land early just to get him off.’
He continued: ‘All this just because of one person, it’s so frustrating.’
Urging the prompt end of the incident, he said: ‘Come on loser, hurry up!’
As the man is being led from the cabin, he describes it as a ‘walk of shame’.
He then adds: ‘I hope you stay stranded in Florida.’
One TikTok user wrote: ‘If you want to anti-mask, do it home, not at the inconvenience of everyone else flying. Even if you don’t believe it, just wear it to be polite.’
Another person suggested that masks alone would not prevent the virus from spreading.
‘If anyone on that plane has covid, everyone on there will get it, with masks or without. Masks work but social distancing is much more important,’ they said.
A final person seemed more concerned with why the flight was so full, adding: ‘Why are there so many people on the plane? Are they not seating people spaced out anymore?’
MailOnline has approached JetBlue for a comment.