Passengers were forced to disembark the plane after a woman on the flight refused to put her phone on airplane mode.
A TikTok video, shared by user @ashleynhowey, showed the uncooperative woman being confronted by two police officers who boarded the plane before announcing all passengers had to exit the aircraft.
The clip's caption read:
"Made the whole flight 3 hours late."
@ashlynhowey made the whole flight 3 hours late #getofftheplane #delayed #deboardthewholedamflight #vegas @barstoolsports @worldstar
When one of the officers announced everyone had to get off the plane, the passengers collectively jeered.
One passenger was heard exclaiming "Are you serious? Oh my God, woman. Get off the plane," while another griped, "You have got to be kidding me right now."
The succeeding clip showed all the passengers in the terminal and booing the woman – who looked completely unperturbed – as she was led away by the officers.
One exasperated passenger shouted, "You suck!"
The clip went viral with over nine million views.
TikTokers weighed in with their observations and offered scenarios of what should have happened.
@ashlynhowey/TikTok
@ashlynhowey/TikTok
@ashlynhowey/TikTok
@ashlynhowey/TikTok
Some wondered why the passenger alone wasn't taken off the flight.
@ashlynhowey/TikTok
@ashlynhowey/TikTok
One user offered this insight involving a safety measure.
@ashlynhowey/TikTok
The TikTok user explained in another video stitching her previous post to explain her father filmed the footage and posted it to a family chat thread.
She explained the flight on the unnamed airline her father was on was already delayed by an hour and a half. As the flight prepared for take off, an announcement asked all passengers to put their phones on airplane mode.
"She wasn't compliant," claimed the TikToker of the woman who caused everyone to debark the plane.
She added the woman also refused to wear her mask correctly when asked twice to do so.
The user added:
"She was drinking so she was being a little bit of a diva."
@ashlynhowey #stitch with @ashlynhowey y’all don’t have to come at me now
The footage was also posted on the Actual Public Freakouts subReddit where a user shared their explanation for the debarkation.
"She probably refused and they don't want another Chicago police incident with that dentist guy, so they just make everyone get off," wrote Redditor gemini88mill – who was referring to David Dao, the dentist who was forcibly removed from a United Airlines flight in Chicago in 2017.
The Redditor continued:
"The social pressure moves her off peacefully."
"If she still refuses to move not only is everyone off the plane so no cameras, it's a lot easier to get rough without fear of injuring others."
On April 9, 2017, Dr. David Dao Duy Anh refused to give up his seat for one of four deadheading airline employees after being selected for involuntary removal when no other passenger volunteered.
He refused because he claimed he had to see patients the following day.
The handling of the situation caused a major backlash on the internet and became a public relations nightmare for the airline.
Fox News
Fox News
Fox News
@xx-shyty-xx/Bluesky
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social