Three Injured in “Security Incident” on PEK-Bound Delta Flight

Passengers in the first class cabin reportedly attempted to subdue an out-of-control man by hitting him with bottles of wine in an incident that occurred shortly after takeoff from Seattle.

A Delta Air Lines flight from Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA) to Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) turned ugly soon after departure on Thursday. The plane was forced to return to SEA, after a passenger reportedly attacked a flight attendant in the first class cabin of the aircraft.

The incident reportedly occurred less than an hour into the transpacific journey. Eyewitnesses report that a 23-year passenger attempted to open an emergency exit before scuffling with a flight attendant. The unruly flyer allegedly told a flight attendant that he “needed some air.” According to those onboard, when the female crew member attempted to stop the man from making a futile attempt to open the exit door, he punched her. Passengers quickly jumped to the flight attendant’s defense, struggling to restrain the rampaging flyer.

“He was going back and forth to the bathroom and then he started going toward the exit door,” a passenger on the flight told Seattle television station KIRO. “They broke two bottles of wine on his head. I tried to choke him and he just threw me off like a rag doll.”

Passengers and crew members eventually subdued the disturbed traveler. One passenger told reporters that he was forced to sit on the agitated flyer until the plane could return to the airport.

According to SEA officials, the flight attendant and another passenger were taken to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries. The suspect is said to have also been injured in the melee, but declined treatment and was taken into custody by police.

Delta officials dismissed initial reports that the aircraft was escorted back to the airport by military fighter jets after a passenger attempted to breach the cockpit. “The passenger was restrained on board and was removed from the flight by law enforcement without further incident,” an airline spokesperson told The Seattle Post-Intelligencer in a statement.

[Photo: Shutterstock]