Maskless, boozing JetBlue passenger faces $14,500 FAA fine

In this Oct. 18, 2019, file photo a JetBlue Airways flight flies in to Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City. An airline passenger could wind up $14,500 poorer for refusing to wear a face mask and drinking his own alcohol on the plane. That's the amount of a civil penalty announced Friday, March 12, 2021, by the Federal Aviation Administration. The incident happened Dec. 23, 2020, on a JetBlue flight scheduled from New York to the Dominican Republic. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — An airline passenger could wind up paying $14,500 for refusing to wear a face mask and drinking alcohol that he had brought on board.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday it proposed the civil penalty against a passenger on a Dec. 23 JetBlue Airways flight that left New York's John F. Kennedy Airport bound for the Dominican Republic, but turned back to JFK because of the man's behavior.

The FAA said the man crowded a passenger in the next seat, spoke loudly and ignored a flight attendant's request to wear his mask. He also refused to stop drinking alcohol that he brought on board, which is prohibited by federal regulation, the agency said.

Flight attendants complained twice to the pilots. The captain declared an emergency and returned to JFK, where police were waiting and escorted the man off the plane, according to the FAA.

The man was not identified.