Originally Posted by bocastephen

Either way, there was absolutely no reason to turn around after 4hrs of flying - they could have sorted it out on board, and if it was a security risk, meaning someone who was a threat to the flight, diverted to HNL or ANC (depending on the route they were taking) to remove them, or if it was a misunderstanding or a stowaway, just deal with it on arrival in Tokyo. The inflexibility and lack of common sense by so many Japanese companies with rigid unbendable culture is what creates this sort of havoc....and I say this as someone with inside information as I know someone who works for ANA at LAX and no one was too pleased with this dumb decision.