Guy Choked Woman In Front Of Him On Plane After She Reclined Her Chair

A man on a Southwest Airlines flight allegedly strangled a fellow passenger because she reclined her seat.

According to NBC Bay Area, Flight 2010 en route to San Francisco began cruising down the taxiway of Los Angeles International Airport at around 10:25 Sunday night.

As the plane prepared for lift off, a female passenger tilted her seat back, though it's not clear how much. This seemed to greatly upset the man sitting behind her, who reportedly started strangling her immediately after.

A witness, identified only as "Melanie," told NBC Bay Area,

[The woman] shouted for help and the crew came to see what happened. The man stayed very calm during the whole situation.

The woman was given a different seat in the front row before the plane turned around and went back to the gate 13 minutes after it left.

Rob Pedregon, public information officer for Los Angeles Airport Police, told Mashable,

At 10:43 pm, we received a call about a passenger disturbance on the Southwest flight. The pilot diverted back to the gate, but the plane never took off. It was on the taxiway.

Airport police detained the male passenger at the gate, and the FBI took him in for questioning. No arrests were made as of yet, but the FBI is investigating the alleged assault.

The other 136 passengers were put on another plane that reached San Francisco International Airport at 1:48 am.

Citations: Southwest Passenger Allegedly Chokes Woman For Reclining in Seat: Witness (NBC Bay Area), Man on Southwest flight reportedly choked a woman for reclining her seat (Mashable)