US singer-songwriter Bobby Brown has been involved in an incident onboard a JetBlue aircraft, resulting in him being removed from the flight.JetBlue A320

What are the details?

Bobby Brown, a music artist who was part of the band New Edition and successfully released several solo hits, has been removed from a JetBlue flight from Boston to Los Angeles. Apparently, he was about to embark to a funeral back home.

Specifically, reports from FlyerTalk.com speculate that "indications of intoxication" were the main reasons that the celebrity was removed from the flight.

According to initial reports from TMZ, Mr. Brown was in first class onboard the flight before take-off, when he caused the entire aircraft to be deplaned. Rumor has it that he was refused a drink for being too drunk and got upset. Police met him at the aircraft after everyone was removed, where the four officers were able to calm him down.

He was removed from the flight and the rest of the passengers were allowed to reboard and take off an hour later.

However, Simple Flying has not been able to confirm if he was actually intoxicated, as there are conflicting reports. Some passengers on board that claim he was fine, that he was passive towards cabin crew and that he should not have been deplaned.

"Passengers sitting around Bobby say he was not disruptive and did not interfere with the flight crew. Although he admitted to drinking before boarding, he was not being difficult and did not make a fuss when he was told he couldn't have a drink. We don't know if Bobby was "drunk," but even if he was, he was passive." - TMZ

He was not arrested and it is believed that he booked a new flight after the event.

What has been the airline's reaction?

A JetBlue spokesperson confirmed the incident took place, issuing this statement to TMZ,

“[He was] removed from the aircraft prior to departure after crewmembers observed indications of intoxication; the decision to remove a customer from a flight is not taken lightly. In this instance, the customer was offered a seat on a later flight. The customer declined and was issued a refund.”

Removing high-profile passenger from a flight, let alone a first-class passenger, would have been the last action JetBlue would want to take, especially if it means deplaning the entire aircraft. However, from their statement, we can only assume they had a good reason.

JetBlue
JetBlue will not commence flights to London until 2021. Photo: JetBlue

JetBlue has 254 aircraft and flies to 102 destinations, they have an all-airbus mainline fleet (of Airbus A320s, A321s and ordered the new A321XLR) and 60 Embraer 190s (which will be replaced by an order of 70 Airbus A220-300s).

What do you think? Was JetBlue out of line? Let us know in the comments below.