A Canadian man was recently removed from his flight after he declined to wear a face mask and for smoking a cigarette while onboard the plane.
What happened:
The Canadian man, Balvir Singh, decided to fly on WestJet Airlines on Sunday. But he reportedly became “unruly” and refused to wear a mask or face covering, which is required on all flights in and out of Canada, according to Fox News.
Singh also lit up a cigarette between Vancouver and Toronto, which led to the flight stopping in Winnipeg.
Cpl. Julie Courchaine of Manitoba’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police, told CTV News: “They were advised this male had lit up a cigarette on board and was also not listening to any of the directions from the flight crew which included to don his personal safety mask as well.”
Singh was arrested and charged with mischief and failing to comply with instructions from the airline once they landed, according to Fox News.
On June 14, a flight from Vancouver to Toronto was diverted to Wpg due to an unruly passenger. The male lit a cigarette & refused to wear his face mask. Balvir Singh has been charged with Mischief & Failing to comply with Flight crew x3 (fines of up to $13,000). #rcmpmb
— RCMP Manitoba (@rcmpmb) June 18, 2020
Meanwhile, in America ...
- American Airlines removed a passenger from a recent flight as well, as I wrote about for the Deseret News. The passenger — a conservative activist who regularly appears on Fox News — was taken off the flight for neglecting to wear a mask, which goes against American Airlines policy.
- CNN said: “This is the first known incident of this type since the airlines announced plans to more strictly enforce mask wearing.”
- The passenger was later rebooked on a new flight.