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The group of 55 girls were on a two-week trip to see ancient Jewish sites in Ukraine and on the first KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight home Aug. 5, when the trouble apparently began, according to Yisroel Kahan, a rabbi in Monsey and executive director of the Oizrim Jewish Council.
Flight attendants told the girls to fix their mask if the tip of their nose was sticking out, and told them they couldn't eat if it wasn't meal time, the rabbi told Fox.
Shiphol airport security tried demanding $3,000 from each girl who violated mask violations, Kahan said on Twitter.
When the group tried boarding the second flight from Amsterdam to New York, girls with names A through K -- 18 girls total -- were rejected from the flight almost "like it was a selection," the rabbi said.
Delta, who partners with KLM, New York state officials chipped in to get the girls a flight home -- free of charge.
As the girls got on that flight home, a passenger asked one of them to switch seats with her so she could sit near her son, Kahan said.
But a flight attendant scolded the girls for disobeying the rules and all were deplaned, the rabbi told Fox. The female passenger involved in the incident confirmed it all in a video that Kahan posted to Twitter.
Delta offered the girls a second free flight home, this one at 5 p.m. on Friday, the rabbi said. That one wouldn't work, though, because of the Sabbath.
And so, the group stayed in a Jewish community in Antwerp for Shabbat and were expected to fly home Sunday.
KLM issued a statement, which was provided to Fox News.
“Safety is KLM’s top priority. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines does not tolerate any form of unruly behavior towards passengers or crew,” Gerrie Brand, press officer at KLM. When passengers endanger flight safety and thus the safety of themselves, other passengers, and the crew, we take this very seriously. This also applies to passengers not adhering to COVID-19 measures. These measures are clearly communicated before and during travel to our passengers.”
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