Ethan Judelson tells PEOPLE that American Airlines never officially informed passengers about what happened, but he learned “by word of mouth” from talking to other travelers.
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Stock image of passengers in an airplane aisle trying to exit.
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Ethan Judelson took to TikTok to share how his flight from Los Angeles to New York was diverted to Phoenix because of a medical emergency, which he later discovered was a lice infestation.
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In his viral video, Judelson said the airline did not notify passengers about the details of the incident, but other passengers claimed that people saw lice crawling in someone’s hair and informed the flight crew.
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American Airlines told PEOPLE that a June flight from Los Angeles to New York was diverted to Phoenix “due to a customer’s medical needs,” but would not confirm whether it was due to a lice outbreak.
The crew was eager to get off a New York-bound plane when they discovered someone on board was infested with lice.
TikTok creator Ethan Judelson, 28, made a video detailing how his Cross-country flight from Los Angeles was diverted to Phoenix for an emergency landing. As he explained in his recap — which reached more than 1.2 million TikTok viewers — Judelson says American Airlines shared minimal information about why they had to land well before reaching the East Coast.
“I look around, there’s no one on the ground, no one is freaking out. I think, it can’t be that terrible,” he explained in his two-minute account. “But we landed, and as soon as we landed, this woman across the aisle gets up and runs to the front of the plane.”
Speaking to PEOPLE about a month after the incident, Judelson said he and his seatmate dismissed the woman’s urgency as the passenger’s impatient behavior.
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“He looked like one of those people who, as soon as the seat belt sign goes off, gets up and tries to be the first to grab his bag,” he recalls. “Then the girl next to me… we both thought, ‘Why is she in such a hurry to leave? Let’s all go out together, calm down.’ “
He went on to say that the flight team assured everyone that they would learn more about the situation once they disembarked. But Judelson says the only thing they learned at the gate was that the flight to New York would take off in 12 hours.
In a statement issued to PEOPLE, an American Airlines spokesperson said: “On June 15, American Airlines Flight 2201 serving Los Angeles (LAX) to New York (JFK) was diverted to Phoenix (PHX) due to a client’s medical needs.”
“Right when we landed in Phoenix, we all got an email saying, ‘Here’s your hotel voucher.’ And we were like, ‘Hotel, are we going to stay here?’ ” says Judelson, adding that American Airlines gave him $12 to spend.
Although passengers’ knowledge of the incident was limited, Judelson noted on TikTok how two women gave “cryptic” answers when asked about the incident.
“They said, ‘Let’s just say it was in the best interests of everyone here that they did this. It’s for the safety of the plane,’” says the California resident, who works as an executive assistant on a TV show.
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Stock image of people waiting to board the plane.
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Judelson told People he found out the next day through “word of mouth.” While waiting in line at TSA, he overheard another group of passengers discussing the reason for landing in Phoenix: a lice outbreak. Judelson confirmed that he correctly heard the conclusion when he encountered the same travelers while purchasing a protein bar.
“I wasn’t sure and I wouldn’t say anything to the TSA,” he says. “I heard them talking about it again, then I tapped them on the shoulder and said, ‘Did you say lice?’ “
They informed Judelson that his flight was indeed hampered by lice and explained what they knew of the situation. They claimed that the women who mysteriously escaped questions at the gate were sitting next to the person who rushed to disembark the day before.
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Stock image of passengers in an airplane aisle trying to exit.
“Apparently, those two girls saw bugs crawling in the woman’s hair… and alerted the flight attendant,” Judelson said in her video, recalling what she was told by fellow aviators.
When everyone boarded again, Judelson wasn’t sure who knew about the lice and who didn’t yet, since he says American Airlines didn’t issue an advisory during his 12-hour layover in Arizona. However, the passengers were assigned to the same seats, which caused a huge scene when the two women returned to the place where they first spotted the lice.
“They wouldn’t sit in that spot,” the TikToker told People.
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Read the original article at People.
