A United Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing Sunday after two passengers fought over personal space, a thrown cup of water and the use of a controversial plastic device that stops airline seats from reclining, USA Today reported. Flight 1462, which was traveling from Newark, N.J., to Denver, was forced to divert to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport after the dispute escalated, according to Transportation Security Administration spokesman Ross Feinstein.
The fight started when a male passenger in the Economy Plus section, which offers four more inches of legroom than other coach seats, decided to use 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, while he was on his laptop. It prevented the female passenger sitting in front of him from reclining on the four-hour flight.
When a flight attendant requested the passenger to remove the device, he refused. The woman then stood up, turned around and threw a cup of water at him. The dispute forced the pilot to make an emergency landing in Chicago where the two passengers, both 48, were met by authorities.
The Federal Aviation Administration leaves it up to individual airlines to set rules about the Knee Defender. While United Airlines prohibits use of the device like all major U.S. airlines, Spirit Airlines and Allegiant Air take the reclining mechanisms out of their seats, leaving them permanently upright, the Associated Press reported.
Chicago Police and TSA officers met the flight, removed and spoke to the passengers, and deemed the incident as "a customer service issue and not a threat to aviation security," said Feinstein. Although the FAA can impose a civil fine of up to $25,000 for passengers who are unruly, no arrest was made in this case, according to airport spokesman Gregg Cunningham.
The flight then continued to Denver "shortly afterwards" without them, said United Airlines spokesman Charles Hobart via e-mail, arriving 1 hour and 38 minutes late, according to the airline's website.
"Sometimes people do things they shouldn't do on airplanes, but as far as I know this is the first time anything like this has happened," involving the Knee Defender, said Ira Goldman, the man who invented the device in 2003 and continues to sell it online, USA Today reported.
"United could make seats that do not recline, but they have not chosen to do so," said Goldman. "In the meantime, the Knee Defender says right on it: 'Be courteous. Do not hog space. Listen to the flight crew.' Apparently that is not what happened here."
The TSA would not name the passengers, according to the AP.
