A drunk passenger who went “full psycho” on a United Airlines flight to Tokyo was promptly and effectively dealt with by two of the pilots onboard.
After Passenger Goes “Full Psycho” On Flight To Tokyo, United Airlines Pilots Step Up
The incident occurred on UA837 from San Francisco (SFO) to Tokyo (NRT) on October 2, 2023. Over the Pacific Ocean, a male passenger jumped up and began yelling and screaming. His shirt also came off. A passenger onboard who shared the videos below said he became drunk and picked a fight for no reason.
A scuffle ensued. Several passengers stood up ready to ensure the drunk passenger did not make any violent moves. Two pilots emerged from the flight deck, a captain and first officer (a flight of this length would have four pilots onboard).
With 10 guys surrounding him, a pilot ordered him to remain seated for the remainder of the flight. But that was not the end of the matter. A passenger says one of the pilots sat next to him while another stood watching him FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE FLIGHT.
First time flying united airlines going to Tokyo and 1.5 hours in the flight, guy goes full psycho on the plane. I have a return flight and I’m not sure if I want to fly back, feeling iffy about my flight @united I might see him again on my return .Terrible experience on my first pic.twitter.com/eorLsEaXNn
— Fin (@BenYu604) October 2, 2023
Even though the incident took place only 90 minutes into the flight, the flight did not return to San Francisco or divert. Instead, it continued to Tokyo Narita where law enforcement met the aircraft upon arrival and arrested the man.
He was later arrested and probably on the no fly zone. 5 Japanese personals came in and took him. Well done by the captain who handled it well in UA837 from San Francisco to Tokyo , arrival Oct 2, 2023. Stood by the washrooms to watch him not leave his seat all flight. @united pic.twitter.com/Hq0iEguo8z
— Fin (@BenYu604) October 3, 2023
The witness who said the man went “full psycho” indicated an aversion to flying United again for fear of running into the troubled passenger, but I think it is safe to say that the man will not be setting foot on another United flight for a very long time.
The Pilots Handled This Well.
Kudos to the pilots for quickly gaining control of the situation and for handling the situation well. So often diversions seem to be an option of first resort instead of last resort, which are costly in terms of both money and time (of course there are not many diversion points over the Pacific Ocean).
Here, the passenger was ordered to sit down and closely guarded by two of the four pilots (you can bet some of the other passengers were watching and ready to act too). While it is only on longhaul flights that there are extra pilots onboard to do this sort of thing, the fact that 10 others guys also jumped up ready to assist suggests to me that a better approach than diversions is often just deputizing passengers to ensure the pesky passenger remains seated.
Everyone in this side of the planet stood up and was curious. Shouting over shouting with shoves by the psycho man and shirt flicking. Everyone in distraught with a minimum of 4 babies and 4 dads ready to beat the living crap out of this guy. Was awful. first time flying united
— Fin (@BenYu604) October 2, 2023
CONCLUSION
A drunk passenger created a stir on a United Airlines transpacific flight to Tokyo. But the flight did not end in a diversion. Instead, the passenger was ordered to remain seated and watched over by the pilots onboard. Kudos to the pilots for handling this well and for the other passengers willing to act decisively to keep the drunk man from hurting others.
(H/T: View From The Wing)
The captain featured in the thumbnail is also the (seemingly) sweetest pilot! He has a robust TikTok handle – @captainsnacks777 – and seems like a true gem. May even be the next iteration of Captain Denny type pilots. No surprise he stepped in to help de-escalate.
oh he’s one of those types.
Full of himself. Even wore his hat inside.
Should he have walked back with a loosened tie after coming back from his crew rest?
When going to deal with an unstable passenger I think it’s best to be in full uniform as it carries a bit more gravitas.
The captain could have just stayed up front and let the other male pax deal with him before returning to SFO. He personally handled it when I don’t think many crew would.
It’s ok to give kudos to someone. Not everything has to be a criticism.
What a moron. Stay home if you’re going to act like a drunken jackass.
He should be banned from flying for a minimum of 15 years, and perhaps for good, on ANY airline, worldwide. He should be fined, including the cost of refunding every person’s ticket, regardless of whether the flight wasn’t diverted. What a piece of shit.
Yes. Cancel him forever
He’s really going to love the conditions in the Japanese detention center. May he receive a long, extended, vacation. Great work by the crew, and the passengers.
What happened to the FAs, who are primarily there for your safety? They should have taken turns to watch over the passenger in question.
Were you part of the crew that day derek? What was the conversation between the flight attendants and pilots? How did the pilots find out about the scuffle going on if they were in the cockpit as the story stated? My husband tries his hardest to play armchair quarterback during football games and I tell him you have no clue because 1) you aren’t a football player and 2) you aren’t standing on that field.
@flyer1. Thank you! I often feel many comments are folks just wanting drama.
Then I remember many folks think Trump or Biden are the best two people to run this country. Scary!
What the pilots did is a great example as how people can think outside the box and find better ways to manage some situations. I think that most flights that are diverted because of morons not acting normally could have continued to their final destination and without affecting so many passengers. In this case they might had no other options since they were in the middle of the ocean.
+1
Only 90 minutes out of SFO they wouldn’t have had too far to go back. They may have even been near SEA.
90 minutes is nothing on a flight this long. The captain put himself and others in danger by leaving the cockpit. Let the stewardess’s handle this. Aren’t they trained for this exact thing?
There are four pilots on a flight of this length.
Seems to me that pilots have vastly more important duties … I would have diverted back to SFO , and rescheduled the pax on another airline or flight . Gate agents ought not allow weird pax to board .
Stop serving alcohol after one drink for all passengers. Don’t let obviously intoxicated passengers board the aircraft.
Good points . Also , fewer passengers might reduce the number of wackos . If the airlines are intent to maximize profit by ever more passengers , in increasingly smaller spaces and seats , then the airlines should re-think their business plan . It wasn’t so long ago that the 707 made profits with fewer passengers .
Bravo to the Captain and his colleagues in the way they handled this situation. Hope this man is fined, jailed and banned for his natural life span from flying commercial on any airline. That should be the rule. Banned from commercial airlines for your natural lifetime.
Agree with the no alcohol on planes. I have never had a good experience with drunks on a plane.
First off, where are these pilot coming from??? If they aren’t in the flight deck then they should be getting their required rest in the rest area, not standing guard. If a passenger is that deranged on a flight, diverting is the right thing to do. Who knows what they will do when you are more than 90min from an alternate. This is all so questionable.
UA L crew are trained yearly in protecting the ppl, aircraft, and themselves while inflt. Alcohol while onboard planes on the ground or in the air should be banned completely. If pax want to drink, do so at the terminal. if too drunk to fly, they get left behind. Stop the problem before it starts. Whose safety is compromised? The investor or pax on that flt? Whose more important? The investor or Pax on that flt? PPl who sneak booze or drugs onboard flts sill be dealt severely as stated in the rules Ual has stated online. in print, and by staff at airports. Can’t fly without a drinl? Fly another airline.
Actually you do want the captain to wear the hat in situations like that. It conveys a level of authority.
I once was on a flight with a guy who started being disruptive. I decided to go sit next to him and try to chill him out with a few funny stories. It not only worked but my cocktails were free the whole journey back.
There’s something so adorable about it being his first flight and him thinking he’s likely to see the same people each time he flies United.
Sounds to me like the tweeter was just trying to get compensation from United and wasn’t actually afraid. Clearly that guy won’t be flying back on the same airline.
The OP. BenYu604: “He was later arrested and probably on the no fly zone.” You lost me at “probably”. Speculation for emphasis does not add to the story but it does make me question the mindset of the author / speaker. The same for hyperbole.
The guy picked the wrong flight – there is a huge US miltary presence in Japan and when I flew this flight twice last year, a large number of pax were miltary.
Judging by the haircut, probably was military.
Please zoom in on the first photo. You’ll see that THAT is not any kind of military haircut.
The man has multiple issues beyond legal jeopardy.
Trouble with that, the flight crew handling the terrorist were going to expire on their on duty time !!!
Who fly 1/2 way through ?
Who needs Snakes on a Plane when you can be terrorized by Drunks?
Though totally disagree regarding NO alcohol on flights.
“Practice Self Control” or “Meet the inside of a cell” is a better incentive.
Fairly certain that the Captain violated many of his own companies policies by going into the cabin to handle a violent passenger. What if he had become injured? What if this was a ploy to lure the captain away from the cockpit. Lots of unanswered questions. Bottom line is that this captain got lucky when doing the wrong thing. Fortunately things turned out ok.
There are four pilots.
For a reason. They’re all required for various phases of flight. Him staying out meant they absolutely operated some portion of the flight illegally and outside company policy. Not to mention now the other 3 guys have to reduce their rest periods in order to make up for the missing man. They absolutely should’ve turned around. Had it gotten worse and mid flight he decided to start attacking people they would’ve been hours from help.
We have the first-hand account from one passenger on X that the captain stayed out the entire flight. We don’t know if that is true. I am also not certain your analysis is correct even if he did stay out and guard the troublesome passenger.
Just another example of why Republicans shouldn’t be flying
You belong on Biden’s beloved Amtrak.