On January 16th, flight NH118 operated by All Nippon Airways (ANA) returned to Tokyo after an unruly passenger bit a cabin attendant. The passenger was arrested and no one was seriously hurt. However, much more happened on that flight than the company disclosed in public statements.
The following statement has been prepared by 10 passengers from the diverted flight.
Flight NH118, Tokyo to Seattle, departed 20 minutes late after waiting for a passenger. As he boarded and took his seat in the two thirds full flight, passengers immediately noticed that the passenger appeared heavily intoxicated. He appeared to be sleepwalking or under the influence of sedatives. One passenger later remarked to others that she had seen the man at a different gate, where the flight was originally assigned, stumbling and acting inappropriately. During takeoff, the man engaged uncomfortably with the other two individuals in the center section of row 32.
From the beginning, it was clear that the disruptive passenger was not in a safe state to fly prior to boarding and take off, but was allowed on board and allowed to stay, leading to the unfortunate occurrence.
-CM, row 23
While the seatbelt sign was still on, the passenger, later identified as Michael Halyard, stood up and walked to the galley. The cabin attendant there asked him to return to his seat. The passenger gestured and tried to speak, but couldn’t articulate words. Holding his glasses, phone, and a small notebook in one hand, he continued to engage with the cabin attendant for several minutes. He refused commands to return to his seat.
Other cabin attendants appeared and tried to contain the situation. They spoke to other passengers in economy class, trying to find the passenger a seat that he might prefer. They offered to reseat an individual in row 34, in a location surrounded by families with small children. The offer was declined. The two individuals initially seated next to the passenger accepted upgrades, freeing the center section of the row.
The passenger resisted efforts to physically guide him back to his seat. He pushed his way up the opposite aisle to the restroom area exits. Cabin attendants asked if he wanted to use the restroom.
At this point, 30 minutes into the flight, other passengers got involved. One individual spoke to the passenger, asking if he needed help, and if he knew where he was. The passenger did not believe he was on an airplane, 36,000 feet in the air. He wanted to leave, to return to his room. Another passenger put hands on the man, assisting the cabin attendant in restraining his movement.
I alerted my fellow passengers and the crew members that I could see that he was going for the door handles. I yelled “The doors, the doors” and tried to restrain him as I observed him attempting to pull up the handle and pulled off the safety strap. I immediately started yelling for more passengers to assist us in restraining Mr. Halyard as I saw that the tension has severely escalated and we needed more physical power to hold him away from the door. He was very strong.
-KM, row 34
The passenger forced his way through the restroom area, back to the starboard side aisle, and all the way back to the galley. Several other individuals joined in, surrounding the passenger. The individual who had been speaking to the passenger put his hands on the man’s shoulders, and the man threw a punch at him, glancing off an eyebrow. The passenger went for the port side emergency exit, pulling the safety strap off of the large lever that locks and seals the door. No alarm sounded, but there were screams.
Luckily my husband and the other passengers on the flight worked together to get him back to his seat after he tried to open the plane door. We had to take matters into our own hands to prevent a potentially catastrophic situation.The screams from terrified passengers triggered a panic attack for me.
-GN, row 33
The other individuals in the galley subdued the passenger. ANA staff produced two large and two small zip ties from a medical kit. The other passengers improvised restraints with the zip ties, a strap from a laptop bag, and the passenger’s seatbelt. A cabin attendant sat next to the passenger, held his hand, and coaxed him.
There was a lot of trial and error before we found a configuration that kind of worked. The two large ties, looped together around his chest, kept coming loose. The whole setup needed constant attention.
-MW, row 35
The improvised restraints worked, but required someone to maintain a hold on them from behind and on the aisle side of the passenger when he tried to escape. Other passengers took turns restraining the passenger, speaking with him, and protecting him. Multiple other individuals approached, screaming threats to do violence to the man. Still not understanding where he was, the passenger at times spoke, cried, yelled for help. Several times over the course of the next hour, he attempted to escape.
Once, he bit at someone and missed. Once, he got his arm loose from the aisle armrest, sliding the zip ties that secured it over the smooth end. Once, he succeeded in biting the cabin attendant seated next to him on her forearm, maintaining a grip on it for several seconds.
One hour into the flight, ANA decided to return to Tokyo.
Two hours into the flight, the passenger stopped trying to escape and appeared to become more lucid. An individual who had been speaking with him for 90 minutes and engaged in crisis intervention techniques, convinced him to apologize to the cabin attendant whom he bit, and who was still seated next to him. The passenger indicated that he had taken a combination of prescription and over the counter drugs, including a sedative, a painkiller, and allergy medicine.
I ended up sitting next to the man for over two hours and ultimately took over the responsibility of crisis intervention and stabilization. I was truly shocked at the crew’s inability to more effectively intervene and at how poorly ANA handled this traumatic experience in the aftermath.
-KW, row 31
The plane landed two hours and 40 minutes after taking off. Passengers and staff waited another 30 minutes while ANA waited for a gate to open up. At 1:00am, police boarded the 787 and took custody of the passenger from the other passengers and cabin attendant who subdued him. ANA staff announced that the plane would deboard in 10-15 minutes. However, individuals seated at the rear of the plane remained onboard for another two hours while ground crew processed replacement flights and hotel room vouchers for passengers, one section at a time, starting with business class. These individuals, including several children under the age of 10, did not receive a hotel room key until after 4:30am.
First class passengers were disembarked and accommodated first, two hours before those who had taken part in the hard work of subduing the irrational passenger and containing all the turmoil to the last few rows of seats. Elderly passengers and families with small children were the very last to be processed off the plane.
-JA, row 33
ANA ground crew did not appear to be aware of what had occurred on the flight. ANA did not interview passengers, offer medical treatment, offer counseling, or connect passengers with police to provide statements. Every delay was routine. While being held, unable to proceed through customs, due to a lost bag, a passenger asked where to inquire about a refund. The ground crew manager overseeing the baggage claim, Ms. Tsuzuki, rebuffed the request, asking if the family intended to not board their flight tomorrow. The hotel room is sufficient compensation, she insisted.
ANA handled this situation poorly: No assistance from the flight deck. The flight should have turned around much earlier. No recognition of the passengers that intervened and provided stability preventing something much more serious from happening. Neither the police nor ANA interviewed the passengers.
-DA, row 33
ANA refused requests to accommodate families with larger rooms, forcing them to sleep separately. Passengers had to check out at 11, return to the terminal with their luggage, and recheck their bags. Passengers waited up to 90 minutes in line to recheck the same bags that they had checked in just 24 hours prior. They then had just an hour to clear security, use their 2000 yen meal coupons (for “flight delayed on departure”), and reach their gate. Boarding passes for the replacement flight failed the automated security scan because they had the previous day’s date.
Checkout for the hotel was at 11am and unfortunately I could not participate in any of the hotel meals, as ANA had not given us meal vouchers. I proceeded to the ANA Check in Desk around 12:45 pm and after waiting in line for another 90 minutes, finally was able to check-in and was given airport vouchers in the amount of ¥2,000 ($13.50USD) for my troubles. Once I finally got to the gate and attempted to board the plane, I was informed that ANA was upgrading my return flight to business, which was appreciated.
-KM, row 34
Some of the passengers who had helped restrain the man who tried to exit the plane midflight received better seats. The plane sat on the runway for an hour while staff located and removed the luggage of someone who would not board the replacement flight. The other passengers used this as an opportunity to chat, swap contact info, and take pictures. If you weren’t there the day before, you would think it was just another routine delay.