Florida man kicked off flight after trying to wear women’s underwear as a face mask

By Alexandra Mae Jones, CTVNews.ca Writer

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    TORONTO, Ontario (CTV Network) — A Florida man was kicked off of an United Airlines flight earlier this week for wearing women’s underwear over his nose and mouth instead of a mask.

Video taken by another passenger on the Fort Lauderdale flight showed Adam Jenne sitting in an airplane seat with a red thong stretched over his face, telling airplane attendants that it counted as a mask before they escorted him 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 on the air,” United Airlines said in a statement shared with CNN affiliate WFTX.

Newsletter sign-up: Get The COVID-19 Brief sent to your inbox Jenne claims that he was wanted to highlight how he doesn’t think it makes sense to make customers wear a mask until cruising altitude and then let them unmask to eat and drink.

In other interview clips, Jenne said he has worn the underwear on other flights during the pandemic.

He also compared himself to Rosa Parks, and said that he doesn’t wear a mask in the airport at all apart from going through security.

Jenne called it an “injustice” that he was removed from the flight in an interview with WFTX.

“You don’t get to tell me how I conduct myself,” he said.

However, airlines are allowed to remove individuals who ignore the mask mandate that is required of passengers.

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration announced a mask mandate for all U.S. domestic and international flights in January, and recently extended it through March 2022.

In the TSA statement announcing the initial mask mandate requirement for flights, it is clarified that “according to the CDC Order, face masks should cover the nose and mouth and fit snugly against the sides without gaps.”

As seen in the video, the thong dangled loosely in front of Jenne’s mouth and nose, the bottom strip of fabric drooping under his chin, with the sides of his jaw clearly visible.

Experts have frequently emphasized that a well-fitting mask is important, with many now calling for the tighter N95 to become the standard in response to Omicron.

A few other passengers could be seen in the video leaving the plane as well after he was kicked off, seemingly in support of Jenne.

Jenne is now banned from flying with United Airlines until his case has gone through official review.

Passengers staging stunts or pitching a fit because of mask mandates has become a common thing on airlines.

According to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, as of December 14, there have been 5,664 unruly passenger reports this year, with 4,072 of them being “mask-related incidents.”

Transport Canada has also noted an uptick in unruly passengers, stating that there was a spike in passenger non-compliance with the mask mandate over the summer, with 330 incidents reported during July and August, more than twice the amount that had occurred in April and May.

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