- A United flight turned back to San Francisco after a passenger was said to be disruptive.
- Other passengers said that he refused to stay in his seat in economy class.
- The flight continued on to Taiwan after law enforcement removed the passenger in San Francisco.
A United Airlines flight turned back to San Francisco International Airport after a passenger was said to be disruptive, according to a report by the local television station Kron4.
The flight, which took off on Thursday, was bound for Taipei, Taiwan, per Kron4, citing data by Flight Aware. Some two hours into the flight, the plane returned to San Francisco, the data shows.
The disruptive passenger refused to remain in his seat in economy class and kept visiting the business class cabin, according to the Los Angeles-based aviation blog Live and Let's Fly, citing accounts posted on FlyerTalk by multiple passengers who claimed to be on board the flight. The passenger has not been identified by United.
"He kept coming up to Polaris during the initial drink service. Flight attendant told him to return to his seat. He walked back but then a few moments later, he's back up in the Business cabin," FlyerTalk user Live4Upgrades wrote, referring to Polaris, United's business class service. The user added that the passenger "didn't comply" with the cabin crew's requests for him to return to his seat in economy class.
"United Flight 871 returned to San Francisco due to a disruptive passenger. Law enforcement officials met the aircraft on arrival and removed the passenger. We expect to depart for Taipei later this evening," United told CBS News in a statement.
The flight departed for Taiwan on Friday morning, per the CBS News report. The airline did not confirm to CBS whether the passenger was removed because he refused to be seated.
United did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.