A man in Florida was removed from a United Airlines flight the morning of December 15 for wearing women’s underwear as a face mask.
Adam Jenne, according to Fox4Now, wore the panties on his face, covering his nose and mouth, and believed the undergarments met TSA COVID requirements.
A fellow passenger, sitting near Jenne, recorded the incident between an airline attendant and the red-undie-clad man.
“You’re going to have to come off the airplane,” the United Airlines employee told Jenne.
“Why?” Jenne asked through what he felt was a mask.
“You’re not in mask compliance,” the employee said.
Jenne was then escorted out of his seat and off the plane.
“The customer clearly wasn’t in compliance with the federal mask mandate, and we appreciate that our team addressed the issue on the ground prior to takeoff, avoiding any potential disruptions in the air,” a United Airlines statement obtained by Fox4 Now states.
According to the United Airlines website, federal law requires all travelers ages two and older to wear a face mask that fully covers the nose and mouth with no vents or openings.
“There’s nothing more absurd than having to wear a mask until I get to cruising altitude so that I can order Tito’s (vodka) by the double and snack on pretzels,” Jenne told Fox4 Now in a video interview. “Illustrating that absurdity by wearing women’s underwear on my face sounds perfect.”
The video shows that after Jenne left the plane, another passenger asked if Jenne had been kicked off the flight for not wearing a mask. When he was told that was indeed the case, he and several other passengers exited United Airlines flight 1750 from Ft. Lauderdale to Washington, D.C.
President Joe Biden stated on December 2 that the mask mandates for travel requiring passengers to wear masks on flights, trains, buses, and in airports and railway stations will be extended until March 18. Since the mandate was first implemented on February 1, this will be the third extension.
The extension was announced as part of Vice President Joe Biden’s plan to combat the virus’ spread this winter.