American flight turns around mid-air after woman refuses to wear mask

• US flight turns around about an hour into its journey after passenger refuses to wear a facemask.
• Police waited for flight AAL38 with 129 passengers on board to return to Miami airport. 
• Passengers shocked and disappointed on airlines' decision to turn back.

A passenger travelling in an American Airlines refused to wear a face mask so the plane had to turn back to Miami from where it had taken off, said the airline.

According to BBC, police waited for flight AAL38 with 129 passengers on board to return to the Miami airport, said the American Airlines.

According to the reports, they escorted a woman in her 40s off the plane. She has been placed on a list of people barred from flying with American Airlines, pending further investigation, the airline said.

The flight turned back to Miami about an hour into its journey to London on Wednesday.

As reported by another passenger — Steve Freeman, who also boarded the flight, the woman was seated in first class.

"There was a lot of drinking involved and I was nervous. She sat behind us in first class," he said.

He further mentioned: "I could see the writing on the wall - they gave her a lot of warnings, so we were kind of ready for it."

Tickets were again booked for the passengers who were on the flight to London's Heathrow Airport on to another flight for Thursday.

"Everyone was shocked," one passenger told CBS station WFOR-TV after getting off the Wednesday flight.

Another passenger said she was disappointed and told the station: "They wouldn't really say anything, and I don't believe they told the flight attendants anything either, because they said that all they could say was there was an extreme incident with a passenger and they had to turn around."