Airline passenger refuses to leave exit row after claiming he had knee injury for priority boarding
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Exit row flyers are required to help in the event of an emergnecy Sounds like the gate agent ‘earned her wings that day,’ wrote a Reddit poster. A passenger on a flight from Pittsburgh to Chicago faced scrutiny after attempting to use preboarding privileges under questionable circumstances.
The FAA explicitly states on its website: “You must be physically capable and willing to perform emergency actions when seated in emergency or exit rows. If you are not, ask for another seat.”. According to the post, a flight attendant confronted the passenger about the discrepancy. The man, who initially claimed to have a knee injury, shifted his story, insisting he was perfectly capable of sitting in the exit row. The flight crew didn’t budge, enforcing FAA rules and requiring the passenger to relocate. Ultimately, his wife remained in the exit row seat while he was reassigned to a middle seat in the back of the plane.
The incident drew praise from other Reddit users for the crew’s strict adherence to protocol. “Good on the GA [gate agent] for enforcing rules,” one commenter wrote, while another added, “Sounds like the GA earned her wings that day.”. “He got what he deserved!!!” said another post. One critic added, “It’s so good to see instant karma!”.
Some users shared similar experiences. “A very tall elderly man with his wife tried to preboard as handicapped but took seats in the exit row,” one poster recalled. “The GA told them that handicapped people could not sit in an exit row. They said, ‘Oh, we’ll just board with our group.’ Nope. No exit row for them.”.
