2-Year-Old Forcibly Removed From Flight For Not Wearing Face Mask

A mother travelling with her son was removed from a Southwest flight because the child was not wearing a face mask. The two-year-old is said to have taken off his mask during the final preparations at the gate.

Aboard the Southwest flight to Chicago, cabin crew approached the mother and her son. The boy is said to have been eating candy before the plane started taxiing, CNN reported. Other media specified that the boy had taken off his face mask several times. Since the mandatory masks policy onboard Southwest flights applies to children over the age of two, the family was removed from the flight.

In response to CNN’s reporting, the airline said it will not comment on the incident but will contact the mother “to learn more about what may have occurred”. The plane went back to the gate after which the family left the plane. Southwest offered them a later flight, but the family refused it because it included several transfers.