What happened
A passenger in row 4 of Delta flight 1323 from Miami to Atlanta refused repeated requests from the flight attendant to end a phone call before takeoff. The captain announced over the intercom that the aircraft could not depart until the passenger complied with FAA regulations. Despite intervention from two flight attendants and a gate agent, the passenger continued the call for approximately 74 minutes before being removed by Miami-Dade airport security. Of the 47 passengers aboard, 11 missed connecting flights. One passenger — a 68-year-old retiree traveling from Tampa via Miami — had been flying specifically to attend her granddaughter's high school graduation in Charlotte. She arrived three hours after the ceremony ended. She watched the graduation on a 4-inch phone screen in a Delta terminal in Atlanta.