A mother say she and her six children were asked to leave a JetBlue flight from Orlando to Newark because one of the kids refused to wear a face mask. NBC New York’s Ida Siegal reports.
Cellphone video shows the tension onboard a Newark-bound flight as every single passenger is forced off — because a 2-year-old girl did not want to wear a mask.
In the video, a woman is seen pleading with flight attendants on a JetBlue flight Wednesday. That's the girl's mother, Chaya Bruck, who told NBC New York that the traumatizing experience nearly left her family of seven stranded.
Bruck, who lives in Flatbush, Brooklyn, said she was flying alone with her children from Orlando to the NYC-area airport when she got into an argument with the flight attendant about the age of her youngest daughter.
"He said no, she has to cover her nose and her mouth, and I said I could try but then she was pulling it off," Bruch told NBC New York. "A few minutes later, they came to me and they told me that I have to gather my things and I have to get off the plane."
Bruck refused to get off, and many of her fellow passengers were quick to come to her defense, encouraging her to stay on board, telling the attendants to "please leave her alone."
That's when JetBlue made the announcement that everyone would have to deplane. They said they would work to get everyone back on the plane quickly, but Bruck is unhappy at the way she and her family were treated.
"They were horribly nasty, my kids were crying. Really traumatizing," she said. "I asked them, 'Should I tie her hands and feet? What do you want me to do?' They just wanted me off the plane."
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In a statement, JetBlue said that their face covering policy "was updated most recently on August 10 to ensure everyone is wearing a face covering — adults and children alike — to help prevent the spread of coronavirus. Children age 2 and over must wear a face covering, consistent with CDC guidelines.
Bruck said that she hopes the airline will change its policy, in order to accomodate children who struggle to keep a mask on.
