Whitney Houston in flight row

Whitney Houston was almost kicked off a flight for refusing to fasten her seatbelt.

The troubled star - who has a history of substance abuse problems - boarded a Delta Airlines flight in Atlanta, Georgia, yesterday afternoon (12.10.11) and was told by a crew member to buckle up before the plane took off.

According to TMZ.com, the 47-year-old singer refused and 'got diva' on the flight attendant, who promptly told her if she refused to comply with health and safety regulations she would have to get off the plane.

Whitney - who is believed to have missed a flight earlier that day - eventually allowed a member of staff to fasten the device for her and the plane was cleared for take-off.

A source close to the star said: 'Whitney overreacted a little bit after missing an earlier flight but she's still 100 per cent sober and was on the way to Detroit for her first day of shooting a new movie.'

In 2009, Whitney confessed to being a cocaine addict during TV interview with Oprah Winfrey, and admitted she and her ex-husband Bobby Brown's drug use spiralled out of control after she starred in hit movie The Bodyguard in 1992.

She said: 'Me and Bobby were lacing our marijuana with base. We would buy a kilo. We were not pipe smoking. You roll it up and you smoke it in your weed. It's almost like heroin cocaine speedballs but you level it off with marijuana.'

The star voluntarily entered an out-patient rehab program to seek help for drug and alcohol problems in May.