An unruly airline passenger caused a United Airlines flight to turn back to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey just a few hours into a trip to Israel.
The United Airlines Flight 90 was heading to Tel Aviv, Israel on Sunday when an airline passenger caused a scene on board by sitting in a crew member's seat, reported Business Insider.
A spokesperson for United Airlines told Narcity that the flight had to turn back “shortly after takeoff due to a disruptive passenger.”
The disagreement reportedly started when the man decided to sit in a seat that was assigned to the crew members while he waited to use the bathroom.
According to FlightRadar24, the flight-tracking website, the plane turned back to its original point of departure around three hours into the flight.
A witness named Sholomit told Israeli media outlet Ynet that the passenger and a flight attendant began shouting at each other as a result of the disagreement.
"Crew members told him that if he did not return to his seat, the plane would be turned back to New York," Sholomit told the news outlet.
Sholomit said the passenger didn't believe the threat, but ultimately the pilot made good on it and flew right back to the U.S.
United Airlines told Narcity that "law enforcement officials met the aircraft and removed the passenger" upon arrival.
“We rebooked our customers onto a new flight that departed Sunday evening,” the airline side.
Ynet reported that passengers onboard only found out they were turning back through the flight map on their screens.
Jeff Hunt, a passenger who was on the flight, shared a video on Twitter that appeared to show the passenger being escorted off the plane. Hunt also mentioned that the passenger was later seen wandering around the airport "pleading his case,” and that he was “not even arrested.”
"Thanks, bro," he added in a follow-up tweet.
\u201cThanks, bro.\u201d— Jeff Hunt (@Jeff Hunt) 1682246198
Hunt told Insider that the passenger attempted to justify himself to other customers by explaining that he did not get physical and thought that the airline's approach to the whole incident was an overreaction.
Passengers were understandably annoyed by the whole situation and that there was “a lot of anger and frustration” as they had to disembark and their trips were postponed, Hunt said.
“He just kind of hung around everybody, which was bizarre and bold," Hunt told Insider. "If I was escorted off an airplane I would have hung my head in shame and disappeared, but he spent four hours talking to people.”
The man has not been identified.
An Airline Passenger Argued With A Flight Attendant Over A Seat & They Turned The Plane Around
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