A mother claims she was booted out of an American Airlines flight because her son was unable to wear a mask as he was suffering an asthma attack.
Amanda Pendarvis from Oklahoma was on Flight 1284 from Dallas Fort Worth to Colorado Springs with her mother and son Waylon when a flight attendant told her that her child must wear a face mask.
The outraged mother described the crew as ‘power-tripping’ and ‘truly evil’ in her Instagram story where she shared her ‘humiliating and traumatizing’ ordeal.
When the crew failed to make the toddler put on a mask, Amanda said the plane returned to the gate and they were kicked out of the flight.
“Way is asthmatic. We showed him a negative Covid test Way had yesterday. Told him he has asthma & has never worn (sic) a mask before,” she wrote of the crew on Instagram.
“He did not care that this asthmatic child was literally hyperventilating.”
Video and photos on her IG story show her putting a mask over Waylon’s face and administering asthma medicine while they were on the flight.
American Airlines confirmed that the flight had turned around before take-off because of a “party refusing to comply with crew member instructions.”
An airline spokesperson told Daily Mail in a statement: “On Sept. 13, American Airlines flight 1284 returned to the gate prior to departure from Dallas-Fort Worth to deplane a party refusing to comply with crew member instructions to remain seated while on an active taxiway and to wear face coverings securely over their nose and mouth.”
“After agreeing to adhere to policies instituted for the safety of our customers and crew, all individuals were rebooked for travel on the next flight to Colorado Springs,” the spokesman continued, adding that the crew had seen the child laying on the aisle floor and walking between seats as the aircraft was moving to the runway.
He said that mask exemptions can be made for individuals with disabilities but need to be requested 72 hours before the flight and require proof of negative Covid-19 test and doctor’s note.
“At no time was it made known to our crew members that a member of the party was experiencing an asthma attack,” the spokesman added.
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