Peekay4
I saw no mention that the initial poster was in any class, so may well have been in coach.
I believe it IS a safety of flight issue and the engineers should have lock wired the seat in the upright position. There is no way it should have been occupied for take off or landing with the recline mechanism buggered (and not locked in the upright position).
I would rather get moved to another flight than fly in a seat that is unsafe.
(And to answer those that say it isn't unsafe, is the seat certified to withstand a 16g deceleration with the seat not locked upright. Is the seat guaranteed to perform as per spec in that configuration. How does the seat not being in the proper position affect the head strike certification for the pax in the seat behind? Does the lap seat belt perform as expected given the potentially different seating position and the position of the belt on the body. Does the seat squab move forward with the seat reclined (some do) and if so, how does that affect knees of the pax in the seat in a collision, does the passenger seated in that seat "duck under" in a rapid deceleration - I.e. Slide forward under the belt).