In watching a video of two passengers in a fistfight on an ANA flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles, I was reminded of my own near-miss fight many years ago.
You can watch the disgusting video here–
It appears as if the guy in the red shirt was the instigator, but the video is inconclusive. We don’t know what kind of words were exchanged or if there were any fists thrown before the camera started rolling. Certainly there was some kind of skirmish or else the passenger would not have pulled out a camera and began recording.
Before deleting his video and descriptive tweet, the Twitter user who posted the video above stated–
For the record ANA staff and passengers handled the situation with grace and respect. They did the best they could to diffuse the situation. The video ended when I stepped in & confronted the man in the red shirt. I told him to leave and squared up with him, he backed down and left. As of now and after speaking with the other passengers the motive for why he did this is still UNKNOWN. None of us have any idea why at all.
I have a thought: alcohol. NRT-LAX is a long flight in 10-abreast 777 seating that many can cope with only through hard liquor.
I’m Reminded (and Thankful) My SAS Flight Did Not End Up Like This
In 2010, I shared (on this blog) about a horrific passenger seated next to me on an SAS flight from Copenhagen to Washington Dulles.
But my seatmate apparently didn’t enjoy my presence. The cabin was arranged in a 2-2-2 setting and there was a console large enough for four drinks between each seat. There were two water bottles on the console already and I ordered a club soda, which I set down on my half of the console. The guy turned to me and angrily asked me to remove the drink from “his console.” I asked him to repeat himself, which made him even angrier, and he again demanded I remove my drink from the console. I shook my head, picked up my drink, and walked away. Not worth messing with an idiot like that.
The human mind is a funny thing. I replay this incident inside all the time, always in the same way. It involves me glaring at him, and then abruptly brushing off all of the drinks on the console…onto his lap.
That would have been a horrible idea. Revenge is never worthwhile. He was already drunk and I felt he was so close to attacking me that I moved seats. Even if he would have been the one to throw the first punch, I would have been “asking for it” had I deliberately spilled several drinks on him.
I wonder if something similar occurred on the ANA flight above. Perhaps the drunk passenger in the red shirt was already saying nasty things to the passenger behind him. Did the other guy do something, like shaking his seat-back, to incite the red shirt to violence?
(H/T Point Me to the Plane)
Throw a few hundred people in metal cans hurtling through the air many thousands of times a day in a manner that periodically ends in death for all on board, mix with alcohol and prescription drugs, and you’re going to have issues like this from time-to-time.
You’re a better person and were much more reserved than I would have been on the SK flight…
The airlines are partially to blame for that fracas; whereas smoking was banned on airlines years ago, the airlines continue to serve alcohol, because it is a big revenue producer for them. Unfortunately, instead of relaxing some people, it lowers inhibitions in many people, and brings out the worst aggressive behavior in others. Hence, violence is not only directed against other passengers, but against the crew. The airlines cannot have it both ways; they should ban the sale of alcohol, on board any commercial aircraft. Otherwise, incidents such as these, or worse, will only continue. Incidentally, where are the air marshalls on board those long
trans-Pacific flights? Two strong air marshalls would have broken up that fight in an instant, and would have handcuffed the perpetrator. Flight attendants and other passengers should not have to be expected to be trained pugilists or be proficient in karate, or jujitsu. On El Al Airlines, there are always at least four guards on every flight, who are trained to physically deal with violent passengers. Unfortunately, most airlines do not want security on the aircraft, since the air marshalls would have to take over the seat of a paying passenger. In 1970, President Nixon authorized armed sky marshalls on board commercial aircraft, to prevent hijackings. The airlines had them all removed, for the reason outlined above. If there had been armed sky marshalls on board any of the doomed four airliners, on 9/11/01, some of the hijackings might have been prevented.
“lowers inhibitions in many people, and brings out the worst aggressive behavior in others”
Add anti-anxiety drugs to a beer or two watch out. It can make for a very, very bad combination.
Foxnews interviewed the video man: the guy in red shirt hit 2 people sit near him and grabbed a nearby guy from the neck and threw him to the aisle . That was when the guy in black shirt jumped in and defended the victims. The black guy was calm all times and just tried to help. He was able to beat the hell out of the red shirt guy. When the guy in red shirt came back to provoke again, that is when the video man stop recording and intervene also by asking the red shirt guy to leave. At the gate the guy in red shirt even choked an ANA crew and then he got arrested by police and was locked up in jail in Japan. Thanks to the guy in black shirt and the video man . The guy in red shirt is an American. What a shame! The stewardess did an excellent job of separating them .
On long haul booze is free, is it not, so it is not a revenue generator. Armed air marshall forgot their firearms from time to time.Just google it and there is enough fodder materials about air marshall.
On the positive side, the Japanese cops don’t fool around. I’m not defending their tactics, but in Japan, the prosecutors have a 99% conviction rate. In Japanese prisons, they don’t tolerate any garbage, either. Prisoners have to bow, and sit at attention during meals. There were three American service members, who were convicted of a heinous crime on Okinawa, about twenty years ago, against a twelve year old Okinawan girl. When they were released after serving thirteen years in prison in Japan, they had the gall to criticize their treatment, They were lucky that they were GI’s; otherwise, they would have received a life sentence in prison, in Japan.