It looks like the bizarre occurrences in the skies are not going to stop anytime soon. It is a new day and another unexpected drama unfolds in the skies on a regular, routine flight. This time, the witnesses were the passengers on a US-bound flight. Reportedly, an intoxicated American man allegedly bit the arm of a flight attendant on All Nippon Airways flight 118 from Tokyo to Seattle. The event occurred over the Pacific Ocean, prompting the aircraft’s return to Tokyo’s Haneda airport. According to local reports, the 55-year-old assailant was restrained by the crew, and subsequent police intervention led to his arrest upon the plane’s arrival back in Tokyo.
Although the identity of the man remains undisclosed by authorities, Kyodo News reported that he denied causing harm, attributing his actions to the influence of a sleeping pill that rendered him with no recollection of the incident. All Nippon Airways, in a statement disseminated to various media outlets, characterised the arrested individual as “intoxicated” and engaged in “an unsafe manner with the flight crew and passengers”.
Despite the alarming nature of the episode, the airline assured that no passengers sustained injuries, and the rescheduled flight was set to depart from Haneda airport later on Wednesday.
“The safety and security of our passengers and employees are our top priority, and we will take all necessary actions to ensure it,” the airline’s statement read.
Biting incidents involving flight crew or passengers aboard commercial airlines can lead to substantial legal penalties.
The Guardian reports an incident from 2022, where the US Federal Aviation Administration imposed its two largest fines ever for unruly behaviour during flights. One such penalty amounted to $81,950 (approx. Rs 69 lakh) for a passenger who exhibited aggressive actions on an American Airlines flight, including pushing an attendant, attempting to open the cabin door, and engaging in physical altercations with fellow travellers.
Another fine of $77,272 (approx. Rs 64 lakh) was reportedly issued to a Delta Air Lines passenger who attempted to kiss and hug a fellow passenger, and bit another traveller on a flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta.
The recent biting incident is not the only thing Japanese aviation is grabbing headlines for. On January 2, a Japan Airlines plane collided with a coastguard aircraft at Haneda airport, resulting in a fiery catastrophe that claimed five lives on the coastguard plane while all 379 passengers and crew on the Japan Airlines flight escaped unharmed, as per the news portal.
Subsequently, a few days ago, an All Nippon Airways jet’s wingtip collided with a Delta plane at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, prompting an FAA investigation, although no injuries were reported.
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