A flight from Tokyo to Houston was diverted to Seattle on Saturday after a passenger tried to open two of the plane’s exit doors, according to the FBI and a spokesperson for the Port of Seattle.
The crew and passengers restrained the person, who was taken to a hospital for medical evaluation after landing, the FBI said in a statement.
All Nippon Airways Flight 114 was traveling from Japan’s Haneda Airport to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston when it was diverted “due to an unruly passenger,” the airline said.
The plane – a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner – had been in the air for about 10 hours when it landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport around 4 a.m. local time, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.
“Port of Seattle Police were called due to reports of a passenger who attempted to open exit doors during the flight,” spokesperson Chris Guizlo told CNN Sunday.
No injuries were reported among the remaining passengers and flight crew, Guizlo added.
“Our report shows the flight diverted due to a passenger disturbance,” a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration told CNN Sunday.
Upon arrival, a second passenger became unruly while on the tarmac in Seattle, according to All Nippon Airways. The person was frustrated at the flight diversion and punched the bathroom door, the FBI said.
The person was “removed for unruly behavior before the plane departed SEA for Houston,” Guizlo noted. “This was unrelated and the passenger was deplaned without incident.”
No charges related to the incident have been filed, the FBI added.
The flight continued to Houston, landing just before 1 p.m. local time without incident, according to the airline and FlightAware.
In-flight disturbances have surged
A similar diversion happened in April when a flight carrying more than 200 people from Bali, Indonesia, to Melbourne was forced to turn around after a passenger tried to force open a plane door as the aircraft flew over the Indian Ocean, according to low-cost carrier Jetstar.
In the United States, the FAA has a zero-tolerance policy for unruly passenger behavior, which surged to a record high in 2021, with nearly 6,000 reported incidents. Reports have declined significantly since then, but 2023 still saw more than 2,000 incidents, FAA figures show. In 2023, more than 400 enforcement actions were initiated and $7.5 million in fines were levied against such passengers.
An unruly passenger last November tried to force open a plane door on a flight from Milwaukee, injuring an attendant and prompting fellow passengers to duct-tape him.
The man allegedly told a flight attendant that he wanted, and needed, “to exit the aircraft now,” according to a report from the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Department of Public Safety.
Also last year, a man was charged in the unprovoked beating of a passenger aboard a United Airlines flight after he repeatedly punched the person until blood was drawn.
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