Passenger who had trouble wearing a mask encountered police when the flight landed in Dunedin

A passenger who objected to wearing a mask on an Air New Zealand flight from Christchurch to Dunedin on Wednesday was greeted by police when the plane landed.

Another passenger on the flight, Josiah Tualamali’i, tweeted about the incident and praised Air New Zealand staff for the way they handled the matter.

He said he got on the plane shortly before noon and shortly after there was an announcement about the requirement to wear a mask.

The man confronted a cabin crew member as she passed by, Tualamali’i said.

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The man said that he did not need to wear a mask and that he was not going to do it, but the crew member said that he did need to.

“Then he pointed to a baby in a seat in front of him and said ‘the baby isn’t wearing one.” Tualamali’i said. The flight attendant told him that children under the age of 12 did not need to wear a mask, and the passenger said, “well, I’m 11.”

They told him that he would have to leave the plane if he did not wear a mask and he replied “It is a great deception, right?” She replied “is it?” and he repeated that he needed to wear a mask.

Then the man obeyed.

“Everyone else was complying and no one else had a problem with that. I think a bit of peer pressure crept in, but you could see he still wasn’t happy about that. ”Tualamali’i said he could hear the man grunting in his seat.

At the end of the flight, a pilot escorted the man out of the plane and he was greeted by two police officers on the ground.

Spokespersons for Air New Zealand and police contacted Wednesday night had no details of the incident, but would investigate it.