American Airlines cancels flight from North Carolina to Bahamas after group of 30 Boston teens refuse to wear their masks
American Airlines was forced to cancel a flight from North Carolina to the Bahamas after a group of 30 teenagers refused to wear face masks - and they were then forced to sleep in the airport overnight because they were too young to check into a hotel.
Flight 893 was scheduled to depart from Charlotte Douglas International Airport enroute to Nassau on Monday when passengers say the group of teens from Boston started being 'very obnoxious'.
Fellow passengers say the group, aged 17 and 18, refused to wear their masks as required.
The group were believed to be on their way to the Bahamas for a graduation trip.
Flight 893 was scheduled to depart from Charlotte Douglas International Airport enroute to Nassau on Monday when passengers say the group of teens from Boston refused to wear masks. Passenger Stephanie Krzywanski filmed this video from the plane and, at one point, a mask-less young man waved at the camera. It is not clear if he was among the group of teens
It is not clear if the teens were being chaperoned given American Airlines allows those aged between 15 to 17 to travel unaccompanied.
Passenger Stephanie Krzywanski filmed herself on a call with News19 from the plane and, at one point, a mask-less young man waves at the camera.
It is not clear if he was among the group of teens.
'There were a group of high school seniors celebrating their graduation who were being rowdy and not wearing their masks,' she said.
'What transpired was a lot of back and forth between, I assume, the parents.'
An airline spokesperson confirmed that group was 'non-compliant' with the federal mask mandate that requires passengers to wear a face covering on planes.
The teens then became disruptive to fellow passengers and would not follow instructions from crew members, according to the airline.
'It was bad. Firstly they were yelling, they were cussing. They were being very obnoxious,' Malik Banks, who was sitting next to the group, told WSOC-TV.
The airline said the flight rather faced an 'extended delay' and was rescheduled for Tuesday morning as a result of the teens refusing to wear their masks
Fellow passengers, Malik Banks and Christina Randolph say the group, aged 17 and 18, refused to wear their masks as required. The group were believed to be on their way to the Bahamas for a graduation trip
'It wasn't all of them... I'd say 75 to 80 percent of them were being terrible kids.'
He said they were forced to wait six hours before they were told what was happening with the flight.
Another passenger, Christina Randolph, said: 'All they had to do was follow the rules, put the mask on, sit there, no smart mouth comments. They couldn't do it.'
The airline said the flight faced an 'extended delay' and was rescheduled for Tuesday morning.
All passengers, including the ones who caused the initial disruption, were rebooked onto the new flight after they agreed to wear their face masks.
Those on the flight were given hotel and meal vouchers while they waited for the new flight.
The teens, however, were unable to check in to a hotel due to age requirements and had to sleep in the airport instead.
Prior to the mask incident unfolding, the aircraft had experienced technical difficulties, which meant all passengers had to change planes and were already delayed.