Did that airline passenger just light up? Here’s what happened on a smoky Spirit flight

Madeleine Marr
·2 min read
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A Spirit Airlines passenger disobeyed a law that went into effect more than 30 years ago and lit up a cigarette on board.

Cellphone video taken by fellow passenger early Tuesday morning shows what went down on the flight from Detroit to Fort Lauderdale once smoke started wafting into the cabin and bothering fellow travelers.

Alexa Majdalawi, of Boynton Beach, told the Miami Herald the woman lit up a little after landing as the plane taxied on the tarmac at Fort Lauderdale International Airport.

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Majdawali said she first asked the woman to stop smoking, then complained to the flight attendant because she was having a hard time breathing.

The clip starts with another passenger yelling about how the smoker “messed everyone’s day up.”

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Deputies enter the aircraft and start walking to the back where the woman appears to be asleep.

“I’ve had a long day,” she said after being woken up, according to Majdawali.

“Oh my God, come get her!” says the other witness as people laugh and deputies try to find the alleged offender’s overhead bag.

This isn’t the first incident of this nature for Spirit. In 2019, a man lit up mid-flight heading to Minneapolis. Video shot by a fellow passenger shows the man taking a drag and then appearing to fall asleep before a flight attendant tells him what he is doing is “against the law.” He was reportedly escorted off by police once the plane was on the ground.

The Miami Herald reached out to Spirit Airlines for comment:

“When Flight 845 from Detroit was taxiing to the gate in Fort Lauderdale, a passenger inexplicably decided to light a cigarette in violation of federal law,” said a statement. “Flight attendants noticed the odor and the other guests were quick to point out who was responsible and hand over what remained of the extinguished cigarette. Our crew summoned law enforcement officers to have them waiting at the gate to remove the passenger.”

According to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, the smoker complied with deputies’ request to leave the plane and was not arrested.