SEATTLE — A flight from Tokyo to Seattle turned into chaos when a passenger began yelling, acting violent to flight attendants, and attempted to open the plane's exit door, according to another passenger onboard.
CNN reported Wednesday that an American man bit a female flight attendant, causing the flight to turn back to Tokyo about an hour into the flight. The airline told CNN the flight attendant had minor injuries and that the man was taken into custody by police in Tokyo.
After the man was escorted off the plane, the flight took off again on its way to Seattle.
KING 5 spoke to a man named Eiji Kawauchi who was on that flight as a passenger. He is an engineer who lives in Tokyo and was on his way to Seattle for a work trip. He said he woke up about an hour into the flight to a man screaming and being violent to a female flight attendant.
Kawauchi said flight attendants and passengers eventually got the man to sit back in his seat. But Kawauchi said the man got up again and this time seemed panicked, and that he was trying to open the exit door of the plane.
“He screamed ‘Call 911, help me get of off this plane!’” recalled Kawauchi. “And then he tried to open the emergency exit.”
Kawauchi said about five passengers helped flight attendant to stop the man from opening the exit door. Kawauchi recalled one “strong American man” who he said was helping the female flight attendant and was keeping the man under control.
After this incident, Kawauchi said the flight crew ended up having to use zip ties to restrain the man.
Unruly passengers on planes have been more common since the pandemic. Last year in the United States, Federal Aviation Administration data shows there were 2,075 unruly passengers on planes. Dozens of those incidents had to be referred to the FBI.
Kawauchi said he is thankful that the flight crew and passengers reacted in a way that kept everyone safe in a frightening situation.
“Trying to open the exit gate, that’s pretty terrible, scary,” said Kawauchi.