WASHINGTON (AP) – An airline passenger may end up paying $ 14,500 for refusing to wear a face mask and for drinking alcohol that he brought on board.
The Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday that it proposed a civil penalty against a passenger on a JetBlue Airways flight on December 23 that left New York’s John F. Kennedy airport for the Dominican Republic, but returned to JFK via cause of man’s behavior.
The FAA said the man huddled a passenger in the seat next to him, spoke loudly and ignored a flight attendant’s request to wear his mask. He also refused to stop drinking alcohol he brought on board, which is prohibited by federal regulations, the agency said.
The flight attendants complained twice to the pilots. The captain declared an emergency and returned to the JFK, where the police were waiting and escorted the man off the plane, according to the FAA.
The man was not identified.