November 14, 2013 9:58 AM 
 
 PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — An investigation is underway after a blind man says he was thrown off a plane in Philadelphia along with his service dog. 
 
 Albert Rizzi and his seeing eye dog were on a US Airways express flight from Philadelphia International Airport to Long Island Wednesday night. 
 
 Passengers claim the airline would not allow Rizzi to bring his dog on the plane, unless it could travel under the seat. 
 
 After a delay on the tarmac, the dog apparently became agitated, and that is when passengers claim a flight attendant kicked Rizzi and the dog off the plane. 
 
 “What I’m concerned about is that there are tremendous number of individuals in the disabled community who might not have the stamina, the strength, the confidence to stand up for their rights and speak out against these types of ridiculous perceived rules,” Rizzi said. 
 
 The incident triggered an unusual show of solidarity from other airline passengers. 
 
 One passenger Tweeted: “blind man and his dog just got kicked off @USAirways after we’ve been on the tarmac an hour, bc dog wiggled a bit. Whole plane outraged.” 
 
 For its part, a spokesperson for US Airways released a statement that confirmed that “on flight 4384 from Philadelphia to Islip, Long Island a customer with a seeing eye dog was asked to keep his dog near his feet when the dog was walking up and down the aisle. The protocol for service animals is to keep them at foot of the passenger, or under the seat, as they are considered extensions of the passenger. When a flight attendant asked the passenger to keep the dog where it needed to stay for safety reasons the passenger got verbally abusive. A decision was made to return to the gate to take the passenger and the dog off the plane. At that point, other customers were unhappy about the situation. The crew did not feel comfortable operating the plane so a decision was made to cancel the flight and U S Airways bussed the passengers to Islip NY.” 
 
 The spokesperson confirmed that an internal investigation is underway. ||||| A blind man was kicked off a U.S. Airways flight Wednesday evening after a squabble with a flight attendant over restraining his guide dog. The airline's action so infuriated the 35 or so other passengers that the flight had to be canceled. 
 
 Forty-nine-year-old Albert Rizzi, who told ABCNews.com that he flies every month and can't travel without his guide dog, said this is the second time in six months that he's had a problem on a U.S. Airways flight. 
 
 "The flight attendant wanted me to put my dog under the seat, and I did the best I could. A passenger even sat Indian style to make room for my dog Doxy," he said. 
 
 During the fracas, Rizzi said his fellow passengers "raised a ruckus" to express their displeasure with the way the flight attendant had treated him. 
 
 After he was escorted off the plane, Rizzi said he was "livid," standing in the Philadelphia terminal alone waiting for his bag, which had been checked, not knowing how he would make it home to New York's Long Island. Shortly after, the other passengers marched into the terminal to join Rizzi in a show of support. 
 
 "I felt validated. We had made a statement together," Rizzi said. 
 
 The Bellport, N.Y., resident said he felt humbled by the actions of his new friends, who all boarded a bus together, chartered by U.S. Airways, to take them on a four-hour ride to their final destination, Long Island's MacArthur Airport. 
 
 The bus arrived at the Long Island airport at 2:30 a.m. Thursday, more than five hours after the flight's scheduled arrival time. 
 
 U.S. Airways spokesperson Liz Landau told ABCNews.com that Rizzi's service animal was moving around and couldn't be controlled. 
 
 "When the flight attendant reminded the passenger that the animal needed to be seated in one specific place to ensure the safety of the flight, he became disruptive," she said. 
 
 Passenger Kurt Budke, who drove Rizzi home once they arrived in Long Island, told a different story. 
 
 "The training of the dog was amazing. To say this dog couldn't be controlled is false. This dog was more controlled than the people onboard," he said. 
 
 Budke said Rizzi's dog stretched at one point, but wasn't moving around and stayed at Rizzi's feet, which is the required location for service dogs while in flight. 
 
 U.S. Airways said flight attendants are trained to handle customers with disabilities, and the airline does everything it can to ensure all passengers are treated with dignity and respect. 
 
 Rizzi, who has been legally blind for eight years, says the U.S. Airways employees on the ground in Philadelphia showed him great respect, he just wishes the flight attendant could have been more understanding. 
 
 "I want to educate U.S. Airways on how their staff can better support blind passengers. That dog has to be with me. It's as if you were asking someone with a prosthetic or a wheelchair to leave that at the door," said Rizzi.
– An amazing show of solidarity on a US Airways Express flight Wednesday night: After a flight attendant made a blind man and his guide dog exit the plane, all the other passengers exited with them in protest. The flight attendant was upset because the guide dog, Doxy, wouldn't stay underneath Albert Rizzi's seat, Rizzi tells 1010 WINS. There was a delay, and as the Philadelphia-to-Long Island flight sat on the tarmac, Doxy became agitated. The flight attendant said the dog needed to be "stowed under the seat," rather than beneath Rizzi's legs. But Rizzi was in the back row and says he had no storage room underneath his seat, and adds that the flight attendant never offered to move him. After the flight attendant ultimately had security escort Rizzi off the plane, his angry fellow passengers—35 people, by Rizzi's count—followed. (One tweeted, "blind man and his dog just got kicked off @USAirways after we’ve been on the tarmac an hour, bc dog wiggled a bit. Whole plane outraged." Another tells ABC News, "This dog was more controlled than the people onboard.") In a statement to CBS Philly, US Airways paints a slightly different picture, saying the dog was roaming the aisle, that Rizzi was "verbally abusive" during the incident, and that "other customers were unhappy about the situation." The flight was ultimately canceled because the "crew did not feel comfortable operating the plane," and passengers were bused to Long Island.