A brutal fight broke out between two passengers on an All Nippon Airways airline flight from Narita, Japan to Los Angeles and it was all caught on camera by another passenger. At one point, one of the men yelled, “I’ll kill you!”
The above video was posted by photographer Corey Hour, and lasts over a minute. It shows the moment the fight started, but not what led up to it. A bearded man in a red shirt starts punching another man, seen wearing a black shirt, a few rows behind him. The man in the black shirt loses his headphones and hat, then retaliates by punching back.
“Someone help. This guy is crazy,” the man in the black shirt yells. One of the men is heard saying “F**k you” and “I’ll kill you.”
The flight attendants try to break up the brawl. The man in the red shirt is eventually taken to the front of the plane, but the two men continue talking to each other. The man in the black shirt tells the attendants to get the other man off the plane.
For a few moments, it looks like the situation has calmed down, but the man in the red shirt comes back, with his fists raised. The two continue fighting and the video keeps going until Hour stops it.
Hour tweeted that he tried to help the attendants break up the fight. “So, 10 minutes before take off a passenger starts a huge fight in his row. I get in between him and flight attendants, but he won’t 1v1 me,” Hour wrote. “He yells, You think I’m crazy? What about the government!’ Then exits the plane. 1.5 hours later and we finally take off. jfc.”
So, 10 minutes before take off a passenger starts a huge fight in his row. I get in between him and flight attendants, but he won’t 1v1 me.
He yells, “You think I’m crazy? What about the government!” Then exits the plane. 1.5 hours later and we finally take off. 😴 jfc
“He was actually predominantly talking about the government and corruption, but he wasn’t specifying which government,” Hour told the Washington Post.
Hour later wrote that none of the passengers have any idea how the situation started. He also praised the other passengers and the ANA staff for how the situation was handled.
For the record ANA staff and passengers handled the situation with grace and respect. They did the best they could to diffuse the situation.
Authorities told Japan Today that the man in the red shirt, who was taken off the flight, is an American who was drunk. The flight was already delayed because of the poor weather and didn’t leave until an hour and 40 minutes behind schedule. Although the man’s name was not released, Japan Today reports that he is 44 years old.
All Nippon Airways is one of the major airline companies in Japan and has even won the “World’s Best Airline Staff” Award from SKYTRAX for two consecutive years. The company sent a statement to the Washington Post about the incident.
“All Nippon Airways apologizes to our passengers on Flight#6 to Los Angeles for the pre-flight incident,” an airline spokeswoman told the Post. “The individuals involved have been dealt with appropriately by local law enforcement.”