Livid Toms River, New Jersey Family Thrown Off Flight Toddler And Special Needs Child Not Wearing Masks

It will be interesting to see where most people side with this one.  A Toms River family is deeply upset that they were kicked off a Spirit Airlines flight from Orlando, Florida, to Atlantic City because of the adults’ failure to comply with mask wearing mandates.  As the below Twitter video shows, the adults were wearing masks (as least they were during the portion of this video taken by a fellow passenger). However, the couple have a 7 year old non-verbal son who suffers from seizures and flight anxiety and after attempting to have him wear a mask, they ultimately decided not to aggravate his condition by enforcing it.  In addition, the couple's two year old daughter was eating yogurt on her mother's lap and not wearing a mask on the plane.

The family consisted of a two year old toddler, a 7 year old special needs son, the father and his 7 month pregnant wife. They were escorted off the plane because of the rule bending and they were later placed on a different flight to return home. The couple stated that a flight attendant asked why their son wasn’t wearing a mask as they were boarding. They explained that he deals with seizures and is uncomfortable on planes, and that they didn’t want to risk triggering another seizure by covering his face.

According to the couple despite this explanation, the attendant gave them a "blank stare" and simply said, “I asked you where’s his mask.”  The attendant then gave the family a pair of masks for their children, both of which fought off attempts by the parents to put them on. Once seated, that is when the second attendant in the video asked them a second time about the masks. The father again explained their son’s condition, while the flight attendant stated that they have to comply or get off the plane.

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Spirit Airlines commented:  “We’re aware of incorrect information circulating about Spirit Airlines Flight 138 from Orlando to Atlantic City,” said Spirit spokesperson Erik Hofmeyer. “The flight was delayed due to the adults in a party not complying with the federal mask requirement.  We have allowed the guests to continue on the flight to their destination after assurances of compliance, and the flight is currently en route, the safety of our guests and team members is our top priority.”

The family would like the airline company to admit fault of having a lack of compassion and  humanity or face legal action.  The family stated, “We’re not asking for boycotts. We’re not asking for marches, we are asking at this point for two words: I’m sorry.”  I'm curious where you weigh in on this one. Email me at Shannon@943thepoint.com.

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