An American man was asked to disembark a United Airlines flight after he insisted on wearing a red-coloured women's underwear as a face mask.

According to reports, Adam Jenne, 38, was asked to leave the aircraft before it took off from the Fort Lauderdale airport in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday morning, for not complying with COVID-19 regulations.

Jenne reportedly told local news outlets that his stunt was to show the "absurdity" of forcing passengers to wear masks on planes until the aircraft reaches cruising altitude, after which they are allowed to remove them to drink and eat on board.

"It'a all nonsense. COVID doesn't know that we're at cruising altitude.

"It's stupid. The whole thing is theater," Jenne was quoted telling NBC 2.

According to the report, this is not the first time Jenne had pulled such a stunt. He has fashioned underwear into face mask before, and had met with different reactions before.

Video footage of the incident shows staff on United Airlines confronting Jenne, who had the underwear covering his nose and mouth, as he waited for his flight to Washington to take off.

At first, he is seen arguing with the staff but backed off and embarked the flight when they stood their ground and insisted he left the aircraft.

Several other passengers also reportedly left the plane in solidarity with Jenne.

Compliance to basic COVID-19 protocols, such as face mask-wearing and physical distancing, as well as additional measures like getting vaccinated, remain a challenge in the US, despite the country topping the list of countries hit worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The country has logged more than 51.4 million cases and over 824,000 deaths from the disease so far.

Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 273 million people and killed over 5.35 million.


Source: Daily Mail, NBC 2
Photo source: Twitter, Daily Mail