Gadget Prevents Plane Seats From Reclining

AP via Excite News ^ | Oct 24, 2:00 PM (ET) | BRAD FOSS

[leadpencil1]

WASHINGTON (AP) - Every cramped air traveler may have the right to lean his seat back, but Ira Goldman sees airplane justice from another perspective - that of the person behind - and he's found a way to even the score.

Goldman invented the Knee Defender, a beeper-sized block of plastic that lets passengers prevent the seat in front of them from reclining.

The gadget, which went on sale about a month ago on the Internet for $10, has sparked heated debate in online chat rooms, and aviation officials worry about the disagreements that will be generated at 30,000 feet.

Alison Duquette, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the product violates no FAA regulations, so it would be up to individual airlines to prohibit it.

Northwest Airlines (NWB) said it will ban the Knee Defender from all flights. Other carriers, such as American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, acknowledged concerns about safety - not to mention the comfort of passengers who want to recline - but are still figuring out what to do.

The safety concerns stem from the design, because the Knee Defender works only when the tray table is down. The hard plastic block, which has an inch-wide groove down the middle, fits around the arm of a tray table and acts as a barrier to the seat's backward movement.

"We have tested this product on several seat types and find that when installed, should someone try to force the seat to recline, the tray table assembly can break," said Mary Stanik, a Northwest spokeswoman. "If the seat is damaged, including the tray table, in flight, it may adversely affect passenger evacuation in the event of an emergency."

Goldman said he would stop selling the product if the airlines prove it unsafe, but so far he's unmoved by their arguments. The 50-year-old Washington, D.C., resident, who's 6-foot-4, said he didn't invent Knee Defender so fliers would be able to "hog scarce space," but rather for the physical well-being of tall travelers like himself.

"If I hadn't been bashed in the knees over and over again, this wouldn't have been invented," said Goldman, who estimated that nearly 1,000 Knee Defenders have been ordered. At the very least, he said the device could be a useful "early warning system" for long-legged fliers or people using laptops, enabling them to ask the passenger in front not to recline.

"Be polite to fellow passengers," says a sticker affixed to each Knee Defender.

Kevin Gross of San Francisco, who ordered a Knee Defender but hasn't yet used it, said he would immediately remove the device if asked to by a passenger or flight attendant. But Gross is betting it'll go undetected in most cases, since travelers will just assume the seat is busted and not make a fuss.

Don't count on 50-year-old Dan Hammer of White Plains, N.Y., to be so docile.

"If I saw somebody that put the Knee Defender on the seat behind me so that I can't go back, I'll be very upset," Hammer said.

That's just the kind of high dudgeon that worries Dawn Deeks, a spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants.

After all, flight attendants already often ask passengers not to lean back too far, and they would be the ones to police any disputes.

To Deeks, the Knee Defender is "an insensitive knee-jerk reaction to insensitive people" that would only inflame tempers.

[Ann Archy]

A question to Ira Goldman....do YOU recline YOUR seat???? I will bet $Thousands that he does!! What a TYPICAL ELITE LIBERAL!! Reclinng is only for the ELITE people.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

The typical airline seats reclines all of two or three inches, in most cases that is not a problem to the people in the seat behind.

[MineralMan]

"If you are the miscreant in front of me with your head in my lap, please don't be offended when I fart in your general direction.
"

LOL. You might also chew a clove of garlic, then lean forward and start breathing heavily. I'll bet that would get the seat upright in a hurry.

[AmericaUnited]

If I'm paying hard money for a seat that reclines, and some idiot behind with some $10 gadget prevents it from doing so, they are going to either remove it or pay for my seat. It's that simple.

[Lazamataz]

Dude, I am the same height as leadpencil. When I fly coach, my legs are SOLIDLY wedged into the back of the seat in front of me. There is simply no other place for my legs to go. Nothing rude about it, except for the reaction of folks like you who somehow expect me to saw three inches off my legs so YOU can recline.

I will kill, with the box cutter I routinely smuggle on to flights, the very first infidel I see who refuses to cut three inches off his legs so I can recline. In Allah's name, all that is Holy.

ALLAH AKBAR!

[Lazamataz]

LOL. You might also chew a clove of garlic, then lean forward and start breathing heavily. I'll bet that would get the seat upright in a hurry.

I will kill, with the box cutter I routinely smuggle on to flights, the very first infidel I see who chews cloves of garlic and breathes heavily. May the way of Mohammad give you inspiration.

ALLAH AKBAR!

[Half Vast Conspiracy]

There really isn't enough room in the planes to day to recline. If the guy in front of you reclines, it's like having him on your lap.

[leadpencil1]

I will kill, with the box cutter I routinely smuggle on to flights, the very first infidel I see who refuses to cut three inches off his legs so I can recline. In Allah's name, all that is Holy.

I'm cutting right now as I type! LOL

[The KG9 Kid]

It's threads like this that makes me thankful that I own a private business jet.

[newgeezer]

Were you "offended" by #24? Or, did the one who wrote it decide to 'take it back'? I only ask because I often think it's best to leave that stuff there, as an indictment of the one who posted it.

[hispanarepublicana]

Now, if someone would just invent a gadget that prevents 4 year olds from screaming and 5 year olds from kicking the back of your seat.......oh yeah...the gadget's supposed to be called "Parents." Only, it's not so effective when they just smile at the kid and say "Now, Johnny, what did we agree on?" Or worse, do nothing.

[TexasGunLover]

I agree with that... but for someone of my height it is. I'm not saying you can't recline, just be considerate and ask first...

[ArrogantBustard]

Put your mask back on.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Oh it was humor from a classic movie. Not meant as anything more than humor. Give it a break.

[BluH2o]

My solution for the individual who insists on full recline ... I stand up lean over and plant a big kiss on their forehead. Works every time ... ;)

[AxelPaulsenJr]

LOL, I will ask for permission. Fortunately I don't have to fly very often.

[newgeezer]

It's threads like this that makes me thankful that I own a private business jet.

"Well whoop deee DOO!"

:-D

[Willie Green]

Short People got no reason
Short People got no reason
To live

They got little hands
And little eyes
And they walk around
Tellin' great big lies
They got little noses
And tiny little teeth
They wear platform shoes
On their nasty little fett

Well I don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
Round here

They got little baby legs
And they stand so low
You got to pick 'em up
Just to say hello
They got little cars
That got beep, beep, beep
They got little voices
Goin' peep, peep, peep
They got grubby little fingers
And dirty little minds
They're gonna get you every time
Well, I don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
'Round here

[dirtboy]

My solution for the individual who insists on full recline ... I stand up lean over and plant a big kiss on their forehead. Works every time ... ;)

I start talking to the person next to me about my recent trips to Toronto and Hong Kong and then start coughing.

[Lazamataz]

My solution for the individual who insists on full recline ... I stand up lean over and plant a big kiss on their forehead. Works every time ... ;)

Oddly enough, this is how I solve all the problems in my life.