Alaska Airlines has banned 14 passengers following a 'rowdy' five-hour flight from Washington, DC to Seattle on January 7, a day after the riot that broke out at Capitol Hill.
The passengers were on Alaska Flight 1085, which left the US Capital's Dulles International Airport around 5:20 pm (local time). The airline said that the number of passengers on the flight "non-mask compliant, rowdy, argumentative and harassed our crew members'' till the mask mandate of the airline continues to stay.
"The airlines were concerned about in-flight disturbances following the riots and a handful of in-flight incidents on flights to Washington for the protests and beefed up security starting Thursday as protesters headed home," USA Today reported.
The passengers were on Alaska Flight 1085, which left the US Capital's Dulles International Airport around 5:20 pm (local time). The airline said that the number of passengers on the flight "non-mask compliant, rowdy, argumentative and harassed our crew members'' till the mask mandate of the airline continues to stay.
"Their behavior was unacceptable,'' airline spokesman Ray Lane said in a statement as quoted by USA Today. "We apologise to our other guests who were made uncomfortable on the flight. We will not tolerate any disturbance onboard our aircraft or at any of the airports we serve.''
The events of Thursday come a day after pro-President Donald Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol to protest the election results.
Sara Nelson, the head of the Association of Flight Attendants, urged airlines and law enforcement officials, on late Wednesday, to ban protesters from boarding planes to prevent in-flight disturbances.
Delta Airlines Morgan Durrant told USA Today that Alaska Airlines is not the only airline with issues on flights out of Washington after the riot as the airline removed two "unruly'' passengers flying from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to Minneapolis on Friday.
"As a values-led company, we expect our people and customers to treat one another with dignity and respect as we safely fly them to their destinations, including wearing masks and following all instructions from Delta people at the airport and on-board,'' Durrant said in a statement.
Alaska Airlines said that it has banned 288 passengers for violating its mask policy since it went into effect -- a number that does not include these 14 passengers, according to CNN.
Responding to the ban, one of the Twitter users wrote, "People who broke into the Capitol Wednesday are now learning they are on No-Fly lists pending the full investigation. They are not happy about this."
"Let me just ask you to please make sure (Josh) Hawley and (Ted) Cruz are held accountable, along with every other Congressperson who chose to vote against election certification while blood was drying in their lobby," the user wrote further.
A video emerged on social media showed a sobbing man at the airport who found out that he'd been put on the no-fly list created and maintained by the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC).
Stopping the man from being able to go back to their home states can help local and federal law enforcement find the men before they flee or go into hiding, as reported by Raw Story.
Chaotic and violent scenes erupted at the Capitol on Wednesday as supporters of Trump stormed the building to protest the Electoral College vote, forcing a lockdown and confrontations with the police. At least five people were killed in the riot.
( With inputs from ANI )
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