A United Airlines flight turned back to San Francisco after a passenger refused to stay in his economy-class seat and kept walking to the business-class cabin

• A United flight from San Francisco reportedly had to turn back because of a disruptive passenger.
• Other passengers on the flight said the man refused to stay in his seat in the economy-class cabin.

A United Airlines flight turned back to San Francisco International Airport because a passenger was said to be disruptive.

The flight took off Thursday and was bound for Taipei, Taiwan, according to the local television station Kron4, which first reported the story, citing data by Flight Aware. Some two hours into the flight, the plane returned to San Francisco, the data shows.

The disruptive passenger refused to remain in his seat in economy class and kept visiting the business-class cabin, according to Live and Let's Fly, a Los Angeles-based aviation blog that cited accounts posted on FlyerTalk by passengers who said they were on board the flight. The passenger has not been identified by United.

"He kept coming up to Polaris during the initial drink service. Flight attendant told him to return to his seat. He walked back but then a few moments later, he's back up in the Business cabin," the FlyerTalk user Live4Upgrades wrote, referring to Polaris, United's business-class service. The user added that the passenger "didn't comply" with the cabin crew's requests for him to return to his seat in economy class.

"United flight 871 returned to San Francisco due to a disruptive passenger. Law enforcement officials met the aircraft on arrival and removed the passenger. The flight departed for Taipei later Thursday evening," United told Insider in a statement. The airline did not confirm whether the passenger was removed because he refused to be seated.