American Airlines flight diverted after passenger allegedly roughs up flight attendant in what witnesses say was dispute over wearing mask
CBSN
An American Airlines flight from New York to Orange County, California, outside Los Angeles, was diverted to Denver Wednesday after a passenger allegedly assaulted a female flight attendant in what witnesses describe as a dispute over wearing a mask.
The carrier says it's "outraged."
American says Flight 976 from John F. Kennedy International Airport to John Wayne Airport, in Santa Ana, was diverted "due to a passenger who physically assaulted a flight attendant. The aircraft landed safely and taxied to the gate, where law enforcement removed and apprehended the passenger."
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.