Mid-Air Battle For Armrest Supremacy

A fight over "arm rest supremacy" aboard an American Airlines flight resulted in two men being investigated by the FBI.

Approximately one hour into a flight from Chicago O'Hare to Los Angeles, three men, seated three across in an exit row, began to struggle over who could use the arm rests.  "They're just going at it, throwing elbows, like they're going for position at a basketball game," another passenger said.

According to the passenger, the man in the middle seat then complained to a stewardess that he might have sustained an injury in the scrum and requested the plane be diverted to the nearest airport.  "He [the man in the middle] complained that he'd been injured and may have a broken rib and apparently was insisting that the flight be diverted and the passengers next to him be charged with assault," the passenger said. The flight was not diverted.

At that point, an off-duty pilot  intervened in the incident-- moving the aisle and middle seat passengers to different seats on the plane, and taking the middle seat next to the window for the remainder of the flight.  According to the passenger, all the men involved in the incident appeared to be businessmen in their 40's or 50's. The flight continued to Los Angeles without further incident where the men were met by FBI agents and Los Angeles Airport Police.