Legroom Spat Leads to Plane Diversion

A fight over legroom territory led to a unscheduled landing for a United Airlines flight. The Knee Defender is a set of clamps you can take on an airplane to disable the reclining ability of the seat in front of you. Many airlines prohibit them, including United. On Sunday, the use of the device led to an unscheduled landing. The flight from Newark to Denver diverted to Chicago, where the two passengers were put off the flight.

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. The two passengers were not allowed to continue to Denver.

Both passengers were sitting in United's Economy Plus section, the part of the plane that has four more inches of legroom than the rest of coach.

TSA officials and Chicago police talked to the fighting passengers and declined to arrest either one. The flight continued to Denver, where it arrived an hour and 38 minutes late, minus two passengers.