Passenger restrained after trying to open plane exit door mid-flight

A Japanese plane en route to Texas from Tokyo was forced to make an emergency landing in Seattle after a passenger attempted to open the aircraft’s doors while in flight.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) Flight 114 was diverted about nine hours after taking off on Saturday “due to an unruly passenger,” the airline said in a statement.

The flight landed safely at 4:19 a.m. local time, where Port of Seattle Police and FBI Seattle were standing by.

Police informed the media it had been alerted to a male passenger who tried to open the aircraft’s doors while it was airborne.

The man, who has not been identified, was experiencing a medical crisis and was restrained by the flight crew and other passengers, police said.

The man was later transported to a hospital. It is unknown if he will face criminal charges.

The airline later reiterated that the safety of its passengers and crew was its “top priority,” and thanked the efforts of local law enforcement to address the issue in a statement.

While on the tarmac at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, a second passenger was removed from the flight for “unruly behaviour,” police said. The person had apparently become frustrated by the diversion and punched a bathroom door onboard.

No charges have been filed against the second passenger, the FBI said.

According to flight data, the plane arrived at its intended destination of George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, on Saturday at around 12:40 p.m. local time, about four hours after it was supposed to touch down.

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Based in Tokyo, All Nippon Airways offers flights between Asia and several U.S. cities, including New York City, Honolulu, Los Angeles and Seattle.

The latest incident is not the first involving an unruly passenger on the same route.

In 2024, an intoxicated customer on an ANA flight from Tokyo to Seattle reportedly bit a flight attendant on the arm about an hour into the journey. The 55-year-old American passenger was “heavily drunk” when he “sunk his teeth” into the female crew member, and airline spokesperson said.

Similar incidents have also occurred on other airlines over the past few years.

In April, a passenger aboard a Jetstar flight from Bali, Indonesia, tried to open an exit door in the air, forcing the plane to turn around on its way to Melbourne, Australia.

The same month, a man aboard a Sydney-bound Air Asia flight from Kuala Lumpur allegedly attempted to open the emergency exit doors twice while mid-flight.

Last November, a man attempted to open the plane of an American Airlines flight and was restrained by staff and passengers with duct tape.

A year earlier, in November 2023, nine passengers on an Asiana Airlines flight were sent to a hospital with breathing issues after a fellow traveller opened the plane’s emergency exit door before landing at an airport in South Korea.