Chaos On Turkish Airlines Flight, As Man Begins “Smashing Things”

A Turkish Airlines flight was forced to return to Istanbul after a man became agitated onboard and began wreaking havoc on the cabin.

TK680, a 737-900 headed from Khartoum, Sudan had just taken off from Istanbul on Friday when a man seated in economy class began yelling and screaming. He proceeded to smash an oxygen mask box and then tried to smash a window. Flight attendants quickly intervened, but he managed to wrestle past and made a rush toward the cockpit.

Passengers in business class tackled him and he was brought back to his seat. Flight attendants were able to calm him down; the man claimed that he was having great difficulty breathing.

Nevertheless, about an hour later the captain announced the plane would be returning to Istanbul. Once again, the man became agitated and rushed the cockpit. Passengers again restrained him and this time he was shackled with plastic restraints in his seat.

Law enforcement met the aircraft at Istanbul and the passenger was escorted off.

But this just made me laugh:

The plane landed back in Istanbul about three hours after it took off and police escorted the man off. As he departed, he shook hands with some passengers and kissed children.

This reminds me of the EgyptAir hijacking in 2016 when passengers and crew eventually posed for selfies with the hijackers, even though he had a “bomb” strapped around his stomach.

Ben Innes from #Aberdeen poses for a picture with #EgyptAir #MS181 hijacker. pic.twitter.com/ywdGYuDWwm

— Paul Smith (@Journo_Paul) March 29, 2016

Here, we do not have the identity yet of the troubled passenger, though witnesses claim he appeared Sudanese.

CONCLUSION

To go from being tackled to kissing children…what a flight.

image: Alec Wilson /FLICKR