An American Airlines passenger is said to have caused significant disruption to a flight in New Orleans after refusing to wear a mask or exit the plane.
An airline representative, Derek Walls, told Insider that the plane, which was heading to Dallas on Friday, had to return to the gate after the passenger ignored requests to wear a mask.
The New Orleans Advocate reported that the flight was preparing to leave Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on Friday but was delayed for up to an hour over the mask incident.
After being removed, the woman could be heard screaming for approximately 10 minutes on the gangway, where she was held by deputies until the plane taxied again, according to the Advocate report.
"I've never seen anything quite like it before," Patrick Maney, who was also on the plane, told the publication.
He added: "Two heavily armed police came and told the lady to get off. She refused, and they then told her to get up. She was screaming and resisting as they hauled her up and put some kind of restraints on her hands behind her back."
The passenger was arrested at about 10 a.m., Capt. Jason Rivarde, a representative for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, told The Advocate.
According to the outlet, officials said the passenger was ticketed with four misdemeanors: disturbing the peace, remaining in a place after being forbidden, resisting arrest, and simple assault.
"Flight 1768 with service from New Orleans (MSY) to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) was delayed due to a disturbance in the cabin where a customer failed to comply with the federal face mask requirement," American Airlines told Insider in a statement. "We thank our crew for their professionalism and our customers for their understanding."
The incident follows a series of mask-related disputes on planes at a time when violence is spiking.
Recently, a California family said they had to leave a Southwest Airlines flight after their toddler could not keep his face mask on.
Another American Airlines flight had to be canceled after a group of high-school students refused to wear masks. As a result of the incident, the flight had to be delayed overnight and passengers had to stay in airport hotels.
This article originally appeared on Business Insider