A passenger has allegedly “choked” a woman during an argument about a reclining seat.

The altercation broke out minutes into a flight from Los Angeles International Airport to San Francisco on Sunday night.

Police said the Southwest Airlines plane returned to its departure gate due to a “passenger disturbance” at around 10.45pm local time.

The plane returned to Los Angeles International Airport (AFP/Getty Images)

Witnesses on board said the dispute was over the woman reclining her seat.

Mark Curry, who was on the plane, told NBC Bay Area he was woken up by shouting and initially “thought it was a terrorist”.

“The woman was saying he grabbed her neck. 'He choked me, he choked me! He hit me in the head!'” he said.

“The lady was frantic. They wanted me to put restraints on the guy.”

A recording of the pilot’s communication to air traffic control showed him saying two passengers were in a “physical altercation”.

No arrests had been made by Monday but the man was detained and the FBI is investigating assault allegations.

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A spokesperson for Southwest Airlines said: “Flight 2010 from LAX to San Francisco International Airport returned to Los Angeles to allow police access to the cabin because of a rapidly escalating situation involving passengers who were not travelling together.“

The remaining 136 passengers continued their journey to San Francisco just after midnight, the LA Times reported.

Several in-flight altercations have been sparked by reclining seats, as well as the use of the now-banned “Knee Defender” gadget to prevent people leaning back.

In August last year, a woman threw a glass of water over a man who clipped the device on her seat so he could use his laptop, causing a flight from New Jersey to Colorado to be diverted.