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Richard Brailey, retired surveyor aged 71, and his wife Patricia, 66, were two of at least 25 passengers forced to leave an Air Canada flight before it left Montreal for Heathrow.
The couple were at first given no reason for their ejection, but were later told by airline staff they may have been thrown off for being drunk or not wearing masks.
They were left confused as they had not been drinking and had been wearing masks constantly in their seats.
Other passengers thrown off the plane allegedly included a pregnant woman, a couple with two children, at least three members of the Williams Racing Formula 1 team and the doctor for the Aston Martin team who had been in Montreal for the Grand Prix over the weekend.
Father-of-three Mr Brailey said he was still feeling “‘shocked and disgusted” after they were ejected from the flight, despite having done nothing wrong.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Mr Brailey said: “We wore our masks all the time in the airport and on the plane after we went on board. The only contact we had with the stewards was when they welcomed us in the normal way.
“We had waited for about an hour for the plane to take off when a member of staff with a list of numbers came along looking up and down the rows.
“They started looking at the seat numbers and earlier removed two young girls from three or four rows in front of us.
“Then they pointed at us, and told the police with them to remove us. We were totally flabbergasted.
“We were in total shock. I was assuming there must have been a problem with the paperwork or something.”
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Speaking to the Daily Mail, Mr Brailey said: “We wore our masks all the time in the airport and on the plane after we went on board. The only contact we had with the stewards was when they welcomed us in the normal way.
“We had waited for about an hour for the plane to take off when a member of staff with a list of numbers came along looking up and down the rows.
“They started looking at the seat numbers and earlier removed two young girls from three or four rows in front of us.
“Then they pointed at us, and told the police with them to remove us. We were totally flabbergasted.
“We were in total shock. I was assuming there must have been a problem with the paperwork or something.”
The couple’s son Patrick Brailey, 36, who works in aviation in Spain, said: “I just can’t understand why they were picked on.
“My parents never drink to excess and are meticulous about wearing masks. They just wanted a quiet flight home.
“It is disgraceful that they have had no explanation about why they were kicked off. All they were told was that they were on a list from the Captain of people who had to leave.
“It is clear that some awful mistake was made. The flight had been slightly delayed, but nobody saw any non-compliance with masks.
“It is a shame because they had a fantastic holiday touring the Rockies and other areas in a rented camper van
“My dad did plenty of fly fishing, and he saw the grand Prix before he left.”
A statement released by the airline said: “We are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding this incident involving a group of 25 customers who were removed from our flight from Montreal to London Monday night, due to disruptive behaviour.
“We understand that there are allegations that in the course of removing these passengers, certain unrelated individuals were deplaned as well.
“Some of these deplaned customers were rebooked this morning and are on their way to their final destination.
“Once our investigation is completed, we will follow up with the customers.”
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