A recently released video captures the moment when a man was restrained using zip ties by fellow passengers. This incident occurred when the man attempted to open an emergency exit door mid-flight, causing panic on a trans-Pacific flight from Tokyo to Houston, Texas.
The individual, whose identity remains undisclosed, made an alarming attempt to endanger everyone on board the Boeing 787 flying back to the US. He tried to access the exit handle during the flight from Asia on a Saturday morning.
Quick intervention from other passengers, including flight attendants and two military veterans, prevented the man from succeeding. They apprehended him, forced him to the ground, and securely fastened him to his seat using zip ties.
The terrifying incident occurred on All Nippon Airways Flight NH114.Â
The aircraft was just three hours from its destination when chaos erupted in the cabin, prompting the crew to carry out and emergency diversion to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, some nine hours into the 12-hour journey.Â
Footage captured by a fellow passenger shows two men – identified as military veterans by eyewitnesses – jumping into action to subdue the suspect and zip-tie him to his seat.Â
The passenger had climbed over others in his row before making a beeline for the exit door. He was forcibly pulled back and tied down by the veterans in a dramatic scene.
A passenger aboard an All Nippon Airlines Boeing 787 from Tokyo to Texas was restrained by two US veterans after the man tried to open the aircraft door mid flight
Once the plane was on the ground in Seattle, police officers boarded the aircraft and told the man that he needed to cooperate otherwise force would be used against him
All Nippon Airways Flight NH14 was forced to make an emergency landing in Seattle some nine hours into the 12 hours flight from Asia to the United States
In the footage, audio can be heard of the military passengers telling the man how they are going to restrain him to the chair.Â
‘You’re not going to make it to that window!’ they warn him.Â
Most of the other passengers had been asleep on the long-haul overnight flight when he made the sudden move.
‘He got up in a hurry – I just assumed he was sick,’ said Ashley, a passenger who filmed the incident and provided the footage to Fox 26.Â
‘But then he went for the emergency exit, and two men jumped into action. They zip-tied him to the seats directly behind me.’Â
Ashley described the two men as calm and trained.
‘One said he had served in the Navy, and the other had been in for a long time, though I didn’t catch which branch,’ she said. ‘They kept him restrained for over an hour until we landed.’Â
The captain made the decision to turn the plane back to Seattle and managed to get it on the ground within 45 minutes – but there was still tension for the remainder of the flight.
‘When we landed, a second man on the flight suddenly started acting strange,’ Ashley explained. ‘He went to the restroom and caused a bit of a scene. Everyone was on edge.’
Law enforcement and medical personnel were already standing by on the tarmac when the plane arrived at SeaTac around 4.20am.Â
The captain of the aircraft made the decision to turn the plane around back to Seattle and managed to get the plane back on the ground within 45 minutes of the incident occurring
Upon landing, Seattle police officers boarded the aircraft with audio capturing the moment officers prepared to remove the passenger.
‘Once I take you out of the seat, we’re going to escort you off the flight, okay? If you try to fight us, force will be used against you,’ one officer can be heard saying.Â
Both the restrained man and the second passenger were escorted off the plane.
Airport officials later confirmed that the primary suspect had experienced a ‘medical episode’, and he was transported by EMS to a nearby hospital for evaluation.
The Seattle airport confirmed the man was physically restrained while flying over Washington State.
Spokesman Chris Guizlo said: ‘Police and EMS were told that a passenger tried to open an emergency exit door mid-flight.’
As of Saturday night no charges had been announced, and the individual’s identity and current condition remain unknown.
Airplane doors generally cannot be opened midflight because air pressure differences between inside and outside – but that didn’t stop the terror from spreading through the cabin
Flight-tracking site FlightAware confirmed the plane later resumed its route and landed in Houston at 12.15pm, about four hours behind schedule.
Airplane doors generally cannot be opened mid-flight because air pressure differences between inside and outside the cabin keep the aircraft doors sealed in place. But even the laws of physics could not calm the nerves of those flying.
‘I won’t be sitting in an exit row again,’ Ashley admitted. ‘It was terrifying.’Â
She also praised those passengers who stepped up to take the man down.Â
‘I want to say thank you to those citizens who took control. I don’t know if I could’ve done that. I wouldn’t have known what to do.’Â
