Spirit Airlines has banned one man for life after he allegedly set off a plane’s smoke detector while smoking an e-cigarette in its bathroom.
The 30-year-old was traveling from Detroit to New Orleans on Tuesday when a flight attendant caught him blowing the emissions into a bag while in his seat, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office told the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
The attendant informed the man that smoking is not permitted on the plane. The man then went to the plane’s restroom, authorities said. Soon after, the plane’s smoke alarm went off. The pilot descended to 35,000 feet to shut off the alarm.
A deputy sheriff met the man when the plane landed at Louis Armstrong International Airport. The deputy sheriff’s report describes the man as “highly intoxicated” and smelling of alcohol, according to the Times-Picayune.
The man reportedly denied smoking on the plane and said he wasn’t aware that it’s prohibited.
He was not arrested, but the report says the airline banned him for life.
“It’s a private business that can ban customers at their own leisure,” Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s spokesman Capt. Jason Rivarde told CNN. “It’s like telling you not to come back to the restaurant. Once he was on the ground, he was cooperative with our deputies so he didn’t face any criminal charges.”
A Spirit representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The incident comes days after a startling video captured a man light up and smoke a cigarette on a Spirit Airlines flight to Minneapolis.
Video taken by another passenger shows the man lighting the cigarette and then drifting off to sleep in his seat.