Airplane Brawl: American Man Arrested for Attack on Japanese Flight

An airplane brawl on the tarmac in Japan resulted in a 44-year-old American being arrested for assault after punching a man and trying to choke an All Nippon Airways flight attendant who tried to break it up.

The brawl took place Monday night in Narita, Japan, about 10 minutes before the flight was scheduled to take off. A man believed to be drunk began to punch another man, and the two scuffled until a flight attendant tried to break it up, Fox News reported.

It is believed that the man who started the fight was asked to leave the plane and refused, Fox reported. He was yelling about the government as he was brawling and being removed from the plane, but didn’t specify which government, The Washington Post reported.

Passenger Corey Hour reported on the brawl on Twitter and took and uploaded video of the incident.

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.

— Corey Hour (@CoreyHour) May 1, 2017

For the record ANA staff and passengers handled the situation with grace and respect. They did the best they could to diffuse the situation.

— Corey Hour (@CoreyHour) May 2, 2017

As of now and after speaking with the other passengers the motive for why he did this is still UNKNOWN. None of us have any idea why at all.

— Corey Hour (@CoreyHour) May 2, 2017

The flight did take off about an hour and 40 minutes late after the man was removed from the plane. It had already been delayed because of the weather, Fox reported.

ANA has won “Best Airline Staff in Asia” award from Skytrax for the past two years, according to The Washington Post.

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