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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — Airline passengers have come to expect a tiny escape from the confined space of today’s packed planes: the ability to recline their seat a few inches. When one passenger was denied that bit of personal space Sunday, it led to a heated argument and the unscheduled landing of their plane, just halfway to its destination.
The fight started on a United Airlines flight because one passenger was using the Knee Defender, a $21.95 gadget that attaches to a passenger’s tray table and prevents the person in front of them from reclining.
“Knee Defender helps you stop reclining airplane seatbacks so your knees won’t have to,” read a description of the device on its website, which was inaccessible Tuesday afternoon. “If the airlines will not protect people from being battered, crunched, and immobilized – very real problems according to healthcare professionals, medical studies, government agencies, and even some airlines – then people need options to protect themselves.”
The fight started when the male passenger, seated in a middle seat of row 12, used the Knee Defender to stop the woman in front of him from reclining while he was on his laptop, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak.
A flight attendant asked him to remove the device and he refused. The woman then stood up, turned around and threw a cup of water at him, the official says. That’s when United decided to land in Chicago.
Fight Over Reclining Seat Causes Newark-To-Denver United Flight To Be Diverted
I usually don't recline my seat and am good with it in the normal position, but do any of you ask, or at least tell the person behind you, that you're about to recline? What this guy did was a real **** move, tho. Gotta think he's gonna be the one who is levied the fine.