On Sunday, Flight 1462 of the United Airlines which was flying from Newark to Denver had to be diverted and was forced to make an unscheduled landing in Chicago after two travelers got into a row over a reclining chair. One of the passenger was using a knee defender to work on his laptop. The person sitting in front of him wasn’t able to recline her seat which resulted in an argument. When the guy refused to take the knee defender off, the lady threw a cup of water on his face. The flight attendants tried to reason with them, but both the passengers were not willing to back off. As the argument got ugly, the pilots were forced to land the plane at the Chicago airport where the two of them were kicked out of the flight.
Knee defenders are small pocket-size devices which are nothing but sturdy plastic clips. It was invented by Ira Goldman from Washington who is 1.93 meter tall and wanted tall passengers like him to have a comfortable journey on the flight by giving them enough legroom. The device costs just $22 and comes in a set of two. It was first marketed in the year 2003. This is the first time that a situation became so grave on a flight as a result of the defender. People have varying opinion on the use of these knee defenders. The device is used by clipping it on the arms of the seat table. It can be slid up and down depending on how far the seat needs to be reclined.
Apart from giving ample space to your legs, a knee defender can also be used if you want to work on your laptop. The US Federal Aviation Administration has not yet banned the gadget, but certain airlines like the United Airlines make sure that no one uses these defenders on their flight.