Reclined seat leads to another flight diversion

A commercial jetliner was diverted for the second time this week on Thursday evening because of a dispute between passengers over a reclined seat, The Associated Press reports. 

American Airlines Flight 62, from Miami to Paris, was diverted to Boston’s Logan International Airport after a male passenger became angry at a woman who was sitting in front of him for reclining her seat, according to the report. 

The incident follows an earlier mid-air fight on a United Airlines flight from Newark to Denver that began when one person placed the knee defender on his tray table to prevent the person sitting in front of him from reclining their seat. 

{mosads}The United flight, from Newark to Denver, was diverted to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. 

The fight on the American Air plane resulted in Parisian Edmund Alexandre being removed from the plane and charged with interfering with a flight crew. 

The flight was allowed to resume its trip to Paris after Alexandre was taken off the plane, according to the report. 

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ruled that knee defenders like the device that sparked the mid-air fight on United do not violate federal rules. 

“While the product does not violate any FAA regulations, it is up to individual airlines to prohibit it,” the agency said in a statement that was provided to The Hill. 

“We expect passengers to comply with airline policies and directions given by the flight and cabin crew,” the FAA statement continued. “The FAA discourages the use of any device that alters the performance of any part of an airplane.”