American Airlines confirmed it removed a man wearing a gas mask on a Houston-bound flight over the weekend, and one witnesses said it was because passengers became panicked.
The man had flown into the Dallas Airport from Los Angeles before heading to Houston, American Airlines said.
A passenger on the flight, Joseph Say, told the station that passengers on the flight became worried after seeing the gas mask and a black beanie. He said that it triggered fears amid the coronavirus outbreak in China.
“I had a seat in the back. I was sitting there. I was talking to the lady next to me. We heard a little bit of commotion,” Say recalled to KTRK. “I looked up and saw a guy coming onto the plane wearing a full gas mask, which was kind of odd. He didn’t have a filter, which I thought was more strange.”
He added, “Immediately, people start talking in the back of the plane. They were worried. Most people wanted him off the plane.” Say said that the unnamed man was asked to remove his gas mask by a flight attendant, but he refused.
“What we heard from the lady sitting next to him was he said he wanted to make a statement. I don’t know what the statement was. I’m not sure what his goals were. To me, it seemed inconsistent,” Say said. “You couldn’t see his face. You couldn’t identify any features on him. People were worried he had sneaked something on-board and that he had the mask for his own safety.”
Reports said the flight was delayed.
American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines said they would suspend flights to mainland China amid the coronavirus outbreak.
