Flight diverted after family raises concerns over PG-13 inflight movie

A United Airlines pilot diverted a cross-country flight and kicked a family off his plane after they complained about their young sons watching a violent PG-13-rated in-flight movie, the family claims.

According to an anonymous account the family sent to The Atlantic, the family was met at the plane and questioned by an FBI agent, two Customs and Border Security agents and two police officers.

They say the captain over-reacted when they asked for the movie on their February 2 flight from Denver to Baltimore be switched off.

The parents were horrified, they said, by the graphic violence and sexual images that were being played on the in-flight movie 'Alex Cross.'

'On our plane, an A320, the movie was projected on drop-down screens above the seats, such that we could not shield our young children from this inappropriate content,' the outraged family wrote.

'Alarmed by the opening scenes, we asked two flight attendants if they could turn off the monitor; both claimed it was not possible.'

The other nearby passengers agreed that the movie was inappropriate and said they did not mind their monitor being turned off. The flight attendants said they could not.

Finally, out of options, the parents asked if the captain had the authority to turn the television off and asked for the captain's name. They received no response.

'Throughout these interactions the atmosphere was collegial. no voices were raised and no threats, implicit or explicit, of any kind were made. The flight continued without incident, while my wife and I engaged our children to divert their attention from the horrific scenes on the movie screens,' according to the account published by the Atlantic.

Moments later, the captain announced that the flight was being diverted to Chicago because of 'security concerns.'

'After landing a Chicago police officer boarded the plane and, to our disbelief, approached us and asked that we collect our belongings, and follow her to disembark,' the family wrote.

'The captain, apparently, felt that our complaint constituted grave danger to the aircraft, crew and the other passengers, and that this danger justified inconveniencing his crew... and a full plane of your customers, causing dozens of them to miss their connections.'

They said it took 'five minutes' for the FBI agent and other law enforcement officials to determine the family wasn't a threat.

They said even the FBI agent was 'incredulous' about the captain's behavior.

They say they have still not received an apology from United.