Plane passengers take common gripe to new level - but who is really to blame?

A woman who claims she was assaulted after reclining her seat on a flight has sparked debate about whether or not she was actually in the wrong.

The American Airlines passenger claims the airline failed to respond to her complaints after video emerged of a man sitting behind her on the flight constantly pushing the back of her seat in what is an assumed attempt to get her to sit up straight.

Wendi Williams was confronted by the passenger during a recent flight from New Orleans to Charlotte in the US. She posted to Twitter an American Airlines flight attendant offered him a complimentary cocktail rather than address her concerns.

In the footage, which has been viewed almost 30,000 times, the woman is seen sitting on her reclined chair while the man behind her leans on his tray table and continuously prods the back of her seat.

“The man asked me, with an attitude, to put my seat up because he was eating. I did,” Ms Williams wrote on Twitter.

“I then reclined it again when he was finished. At that point he started hammering away at me.”

While Ms Williams appears to be the victim in the scenario, a number of people have instead blamed her for the altercation.

“Is it possible you tilted your seat back and were in his lap? Always two sides,” one said.

“In cramped quarters and space being at a premium the gentleman was fighting for space or lack of space from reclined seat,” another claimed.

“Reclining chairs when plane is cramped is a big no no,” a third weighed in.

However, few did jump to the defence of the woman who filmed the video of the incident.

“What a JERK!!! Passive aggressive at its worst. And to be enabled by the flight attendant is just not acceptable,” one said.

“Why was he doing that? That’s obnoxious,” another said.

An American Airlines spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia it was aware of the dispute that occurred on January 31.

“The safety and comfort of our customers and team members is our top priority, and our team is looking into the issue.”

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