Carlos Olivero kicked off flight after refusing to stow iPod |
The 18-year-old heartthrob, his mother, and his bandmates were on flight 4483 on July 4 as it prepared to leave for Knoxville, Tenn., when Olivero was told to leave the plane, a source says.
"A flight attendant accused Carlos of having an attitude after she asked him to turn off his iPod in preparation for takeoff," the source says. "Carlos complied and turned his iPod off, but the flight attendant then demanded he stow it. Carlos showed her again that the iPod was turned off, but he refused to stow it."
A Delta airlines security team was summoned and escorted him and his mother off the plane, the source says. His bandmates, the Menudo tech crew and management also left the plane, the source says.
The five-member group boarded another flight, but without their tech crew since there weren't enough seats. After they arrived in Knoxville for the Star 102.1 FM Festival, they performed songs from their upcoming album out Sept. 30, including the hit "Lost," in front of 75,000 fans, but the group improvised.
"When they finally took to the stage in Knoxville, they realized some of their borrowed tech equipment didn't operate properly, so they ended up performing a cappella midway through the set."
A rep for Menudo tells PEOPLE, "We can confirm there was an incident on the Delta flight. The members of Menudo are on a plane nearly every day flying from one concert appearance to another so this took us totally by surprise. We've never had a problem before."