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Israel-Bound Flight U-Turns Back To Newark Three Hours In, Unruly Passenger Blamed

A United Airlines flight bound for Israel had been in the air for nearly three hours when it suddenly turned around and headed back to Newark because of what the airline confirmed was a "disruptive" passenger.

United Airlines

United Airlines

Photo Credit: United Airlines photo

The passenger apparently sat in a crew seat while waiting to use the bathroom and ended up in a shouting match with a flight attendant, according to multiple reports.

Crew members warned the man that Flight 90 -- which had left Newark early Sunday, April 23, on its way to Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv -- would have to head back if he didn't return to his seat, one passenger said.

He apparently didn't believe them.

Sure enough, the pilot took a U-turn and bee-lined it back to the United States with seven hours still left on the 10-hour flight, the website FlightRadar 24 reported.

United Airlines didn't go into detail about the incident, other than to say the "disruptive" passenger was taken into custody after the flight returned.

Passenger Jeff Hunt tweeted video and photos from the incident. He also said that the man wasn't taken away immediately but, rather, "spent four hours talking to people at the airport...pleading his case."

Passengers had to get hotel vouchers from United while rebooking their travel. The airline apparently added a flight Sunday night to accommodate them.

Ynetnews.com broke the story:

United Tel Aviv flight returns to NY after Israeli passenger fights with crew

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