Man says he was asked to move seats on Asiana flight due to prosthetic leg

SAN FRANCISCO -- A San Francisco man says he was asked to move out of an airplane exit row on an Asiana Airlines flight because of his prosthetic leg.

Tim Seward said it happened Sunday on a flight from Beijing to Seoul.

He took cell phone video of the airline employee, who he said asked him to move from his assigned exit row seat, for which he paid extra money, because she couldn't be sure he could perform the duties required.

Seward said he has sat in exit rows many times, which he buys because of the added legroom, and that he is fully capable of performing exit row duties.

Flight attendant: "I cannot prove your leg is functional."

Seward: "You cannot prove my leg is functional?"

Flight attendant: "No, I cannot prove it."

"They threatened me that they were going to kick me off the plane if I didn't move," Seward said. "Personally, I feel like it wasn't right to have someone determine for me my physical ability, and I think that airline should understand that that is wrong, and they discriminated against someone."

A cabin safety document on the FAA's website has guidelines on passengers with prosthesis sitting in exit rows.

"If a passenger with prosthesis is being evaluated for assignment to an exit seat, the presence of the prosthesis would not be the determinant for being able to meet the criteria but rather the physical ability to perform the exit seat duties," the guidelines read.

Asiana Airlines has so far declined to comment.