A 2-year-old girl refused to wear a mask aboard a United Airlines flight and she and her family were kicked off the plane, the New York Post reported Monday.
The airline has banned the family for life.
Eliz Orban and her husband were aboard the Newark-bound plane from Denver with their daughter. While the parents were wearing face masks and tried to get their child to wear one, too, she refused and threw a tantrum.
"Come here, you have to put this on," Orban's husband coaxed their baby girl - but to no avail. She covered her mouth with her hands. A member of the flight crew approached, according to a video of the incident that has gone viral.
"Hello, sir, I'm going to have to ask you to grab your belongings and exit the plane," the man told Orban's husband. "You've got to be kidding me," the husband replied, according to the New York Post report.
In a statement released to TMZ, United Airlines said the health and safety of its employees and customers was its biggest priority - "which is why we have a multilayered set of protocols, including requiring everyone onboard two and older to wear a mask."
On Instagram, Orban said they had flown with their daughter on four occasions since the start of the coronavirus pandemic "without ever having an issue."
She said based on guidelines by the World Health Organization children aged five years and below were not required to wear a face covering.
United Airlines said it was investigating the incident and had spoken with the family. "We also refunded their tickets and returned their car seat and bags," TMZ quoted the airline saying.
