Like a $22 piece of plastic crafted by some sadistic magic genie, a device called the Knee Defender gave two passengers on a flight from Newark to Denver all the extra legroom they wanted, and then some. On Sunday, a man working on his laptop during a United Airlines flight attached the gadget to the sides of his tray table, preventing the woman seated ahead of him from reclining. (Both were in Economy Plus, which already has four more inches of legroom than a standard coach seat.) The woman complained, and when the man refused to remove the device at the request of a flight attendant, she turned around and threw a cup of water at him, according to the Associated Press. The flight was diverted to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, and the two passengers were removed from the plane. Flight delay to Denver: 1 hour and 38 minutes. Potential FAA fine for unruly passengers: $25,000. Discouraging jackass fliers from tampering with seats and assaulting other passengers: priceless.
