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Woman Claims She Was Choked By Man During In-Flight Dispute Over Seat

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (CBSNewYork) -- A jetliner made a u-turn following an in-flight altercation.

As CBS2's Tony Aiello reported, a man flew into a rage when the woman in front of him reclined her seat.

Mark Curry was on the Southwest flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco, which was forced to turn around after an in-flight altercation.

"It was pandemonium. I didn't know what was going on. I thought it was a terrorist. People were going crazy," he said.

Curry, the start of a 1990s sitcom, is now a radio host.

"This lady was screaming, 'he choked me, he choked me!' And she wouldn't get up. She sat in her chair and the dude was just sitting there," Curry recalled.

Passengers said a man began choking a female passenger after she reclined her seat.

The woman can be heard on video as the flight attendants urged her to press charges.

When cabin attendants reported the incident to the pilot he decided to turn around and return to L.A.

The man who allegedly choked the passenger was taken off the plane by FBI agents, but as of now he's not facing charges.

The 136 other passengers finally got to San Francisco on Monday morning, about 5 hours late.

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