United Airlines flight to Tel Aviv returns to Newark after uproar of two self-upgraded passengers

A United Airlines flight to Tel Aviv, Israel, returned to New York Newark on Friday after two passengers caused a “riot” on the plane.

The passengers, both Israelis, sat in business class seats on the half-empty flight UA90 (123 passengers for 330 seats onboard the Boeing 787-10 registered N17002). When flight attendants asked these passengers for proof that they were seated in their assigned seats, they refused to show their tickets.

Passengers became disruptive and a riot started about an hour and a half into the flight. The pilots then decided to return to Newark Liberty International Airport. The flight turned around near the Canada-US border between Maine and New Brunswick.

The passengers were disembarked from the plane in Newark almost three hours after departure.

The flight was subsequently cancelled. United Airlines provided passengers with meal vouchers, hotels and alternative flights to Tel Aviv and said in a statement that the flight returned to New York due to “disruptive passengers on board“.

On Wednesday, an American Airlines passenger who refused to wear her face mask forced a flight to London from Miami to return to the Florida airport about an hour into the trip.