Spirit Airlines removed a family from a flight to New York
(Getty Images)
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A man has been given a lifetime ban on Spirit Airlines flights after he vaped on board a plane and set off the smoke alarm.
The passenger was flying from Detroit to New Orleans on 4 June when a flight attendant saw him take a drag on an e-cigarette before exhaling into his bag.
After being told he couldn’t smoke or vape on board the plane, the 30-year-old Florida resident was spotted heading to the aircraft toilet, reports CNN, where he managed to set off the plane’s smoke alarm, which sounded in the cockpit.
The pilot had to descend to 35,000ft in order to shut off the alarm.
The man was also seen drinking from several bottles of alcohol hidden under his jacket, which is prohibited under Federal Aviation Administration rules – they state that passengers may drink alcohol only if it’s served to them by the “certificate holder operating the plane.”
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A deputy sheriff met flight NK985 when it landed at Louis Armstrong International Airport and reported that the passenger was “highly intoxicated”.
The man said he didn’t know smoking was banned on aircraft and also denied vaping in the toilets.
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