Brawl breaks out on Spirit Airlines flight after passengers refuse to wear masks

A brawl broke out on a Spirit Airlines flight, which culminated in passengers throwing punches at one another and a woman being tasered by police. Video shared on social media shows the moment the woman leaps over an aircraft seat to hit another man who yanks on her hair, while cabin crew struggle to hold them back. The incident occurred on a flight from Newark, New Jersey, to San Juan, Puerto Rico, on 26 October, although passengers have given conflicting accounts as to what started the fight. The man who filmed the encounter, Carlos Paredes, told CBS reporter David Begnaud that the fight broke out because “the woman refused to follow the airlines protocol to wear a mask”. Puerto Rico police also said that the woman in the video, identified as passenger Nyasy Veronique Payne, “provoked an incident by acting in what witnesses called an aggressive, hostile, and defiant behaviour.” She was accused of hitting 28-year-old Javier Lopez Cruz. However, another passenger on board disputes the story, saying the violence was initiated by a male passenger. It was the woman who was arrested and spent the night in jail.<br/>