Reclining seat to blame? Southwest flight returns to LAX after 'altercation'

Ben Mutzabaugh | USA TODAY

A San Francisco-bound Southwest Airlines flight returned to Los Angeles late Sunday night after an apparent altercation between two people on the plane. One eyewitness account from the flight indicated that the fracas may have begun after one passenger reclined her seat, possibly provoking the passenger behind her.

The Los Angeles Airport Police gave the first indication of the incident, saying via Twitter that the Southwest Flight had returned to LAX at 10:43 p.m. local time because of a "passenger disturbance."

Southwest spokeswoman Melissa Ford confirmed the incident in an e-mail to Today in the Sky.

BOOKMARK: Add Today in the Sky to your favorites

“The pilot in command of Southwest 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 traveling together,” Ford said in the statement. “To receive priority handling from air traffic controllers, the Captain declared an emergency, landed uneventfully, and reached a gate where law enforcement officers met the flight.”

Southwest said one passenger was removed from the flight after it returned to LAX and that the FBI is now handling the investigation.

An eyewitness from the flight identified only as "Melanie" told NBC's San Francisco affiliate the altercation appeared to begin after a woman reclined her seat. Next, a man sitting behind her allegedly “started choking her," Melanie told NBC San Francisco. "She shouted for help and the crew came to see what happened. The man stayed very calm during the whole situation.”

Southwest declined to offer details of the altercation.

“Our Crew members are trained to ensure the safe operation of every flight we operate,” Ford said. “Our initial information is that flight attendants swiftly coordinated with pilots on the flight deck to get the aircraft on the ground safely and quickly after a physical altercation by one passenger against another.”

The airline said it moved “the remaining 136 San Francisco-bound” passengers to a different plane to resume their journey to San Francisco. The diversion coupled with an air traffic control delay on the original takeoff delayed the flight’s arrival to San Francisco by about five hours.

TWITTER: You can follow me at twitter.com/TodayInTheSky