Passengers board plane to New York. Then someone starts vaping before takeoff: ‘You should’ve vaped when we was 30,000 feet’

Vaping may be more socially acceptable in public than smoking, but there are places where it is still prohibited. One example is inside an airplane.

Yet some passengers still decide to take their chances.

Recently, travelers on a flight to New York witnessed one passenger vaping before takeoff, delaying the flight in the process.

In a TikTok video that got over 2.5 million views, creator Syd (@squidneyann97) and fellow passenger and Twitch streamer Tylil James (@thetylilshow__) called out the man with the vape.

What Happened To The Vaping Man? 

“Hello, close friends,” Syd says at the start of the video. “A man on my flight is about to get escorted off the plane.”

She then turns the camera to her seatmate.

“Hi, my name is Tylil James,” he says. “Yeah, somebody was vaping.”

James says he cannot understand why the passenger would do something like that.

“Why would you vape while we still on land?” he jokes. “You shoulda vaped when we was 30,000 feet.”

He shares what the consequences are for the man. “But now you bouta get escorted,” he says. “Let’s see how this goes.”

“Stay tuned, close friends,” Syd chimes in.

One Vape Brings Two Together

In a separate video, James revealed what happened next. 

James filmed the passenger who he says vaped, calling him a “grown [expletive] man” and joking that he appeared old enough to know better.

While the man’s alleged vaping delayed their flight, it did have an unintended effect: James and Syd became friends.

“This is my new best friend,” James says, pointing to Syd. “She was eavesdropping from here to over there. She gave me all the tea.”

Eventually, security escorted the man off the plane without any visible resistance.

However, James was clearly frustrated by the delay, especially because he said he’s a Knicks fan who was trying to get to New York City to watch them in the NBA finals.

“We wanna drink beers and eat hot dogs,” he says.

James and Syd did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Vapes On A Plane

Vaping on a commercial flight is treated the same as smoking: it is banned both in the cabin and in the lavatory. The Department of Transportation (DOT) says the e-cigarette ban applies to scheduled flights of U.S. and foreign carriers involving transportation in, to, and from the U.S.

According to FindLaw, passengers who break this rule and vape in-flight may face fines ranging from $2 to $4,000. If a person tampers with a smoke detector, for example, they face a maximum civil penalty of $5,478.

They won’t land in jail, however, as vaping isn’t a criminal offense.

However, there are some situations where one could get into extra trouble. If a passenger refuses crew instructions, argues, threatens anyone, or further disrupts the flight.

In one example reported by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) , the agency proposed a $17,530 penalty against a JetBlue passenger on a San Diego-to-Fort Lauderdale flight who allegedly interfered with crewmembers, failed to follow the face mask mandate, vaped on the aircraft, and drank alcohol that was not served by the airline. Law enforcement reportedly met him at the gate. It’s unknown if charges were filed.

The FAA also says e-cigarettes are not allowed inside a checked bag, as they were “the leading cause of lithium battery incidents on aircraft in 2022.”

Viewers Were Entertained

In the comments section, viewers were amused by the unexpected friendship that seemed to form during the delay.

“Omg did you guys just become besties,” one person wrote.

Another shared their frustration of sitting through a delay caused by another passenger.

“The rage I get when anyone on my flight is doing something that will prolong my time on the plane is insane,” they said.

A purported flight attendant also jumped in to explain why waiting until the flight is in the air would only make things worse.

“Flight attendant here! That’s a $2,000 fine and the no fly list,” they wrote of vaping in-air. “And no… don’t wait until you get in the air because that means the flight would be diverted and that’s a longer process. We are trained to smell the vapor and other scents.”

@squidneyann97

Trip to New York started off with some tea LOL – I don’t have an update bc I got shy recording LOL but Tylil documented the whole thing

♬ original sound – syd