Passengers removed after mid-air spat over reclining seat
A mid-flight row over legroom between two United Airlines passengers quickly escalated to an air rage incident, causing a flight to be diverted.
United Airlines flight 1462 from Newark to Denver was diverted to Chicago where two passengers were removed from the aircraft and spoken to by police and Transportation Security Administration officers.
The stand-off came about after a male passenger used a ‘Knee Defender’ – a $21.95 device that clips onto to the tray table to stops the seat in front from reclining backwards.
After the passenger in front complained, a flight attendant requested that the device – which is banned by United – be removed.
When the request was ignored, the female passenger in front stood up and threw a glass of water over him, according to witnesses.
Both passengers were in ‘economy plus’ seating, which offers an extra four inches of legroom.
The flight was then subsequently diverted and the two passengers were questioned by law enforcement officers on the ground.
No arrests were made and the incident was "deemed a customer service issue," according to TSA spokesman Ross Feinstein.
The Knee Defender does not break any FAA safety rules but several airlines including United have banned them.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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