Family kicked off plane for film complaint

BALTIMORE, April 10 (UPI) -- A Baltimore couple traveling with their sons said they were booted from a plane and interviewed by the FBI for complaining about an in-flight movie.

The couple, responding anonymously to an article about air rage on The Atlantic Monthly's website, said they were on a United Airlines flight from Denver to Baltimore Feb. 2 when they became concerned about their sons, aged 4 and 8, being exposed to the violent content of the in-flight film "Alex Cross," which follows a detective on the trail of a serial killer, The Baltimore Sun reported Wednesday.

The couple said a flight attendant told them the monitors nearest their seats could not be turned off independently.

"The first flight attendant also claimed that the screen could not be folded up independently [which it clearly could] and that even if it could, she would still not authorize closing it because of the passengers sitting behind us," they posted on the website.

The parents said they asked for the pilot's name to see if he could intervene on their behalf, but were told to wait and ask him themselves while disembarking.

The couple said the flight was diverted to Chicago, where they were escorted off the plane by a police officer and interviewed by an FBI agent.

The family was booked on another flight to Baltimore.

United confirmed the flight was diverted due to a disturbance involving passengers.

"The flight landed without incident and the customers were removed from the aircraft. We re-accommodated the customers on the next flight to Baltimore and have since conducted a full review of our in-flight entertainment," the airline said in a statement.