Terror as manic passenger is wrestled to his seat after trying to open emergency exit mid-air
The moment a manic passenger was wrestled into a seat after trying to open the emergency exit mid-flight was caught on camera.
The unnamed suspect, who attempted the terrifying incident on an All Nippon Airways plane from Tokyo to Houston, Texas, on Saturday, leapt out of his seat nine hours into the journey and lunged for the door's handle.
However, two military veterans and the flight attendants rounded on him and hauled him away from the exit by pinning him into the seat before tying him up.
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The captain was forced to divert the aircraft to Seattle Airport, where video showed cops as they arrested the suspect and took him to hospital.
Footage showed the former soldiers shove the man into the chair as he tried to wrestle free, while one said: 'You're not going to make it to that window.'
Most of the other passengers had been asleep on the long-haul overnight flight when the commotion happened.
A traveler called Ashley told Fox 26: 'He got up in a hurry - I just assumed he was sick but then he went for the emergency exit, and two men jumped into action.
'They zip-tied him to the seats directly behind me.'
Ashley said the military veterans remained calm and appeared trained.
Ashley added: 'One said he had served in the Navy, and the other had been in for a long time, though I didn't catch which branch. They kept [the man] restrained for over an hour.'
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The captain turned the plane back to Seattle when it was just three hours away from Houston, and landed it within 45 minutes of the incident.
Ashely said: 'When we landed, a second man on the flight suddenly started acting strange. He went to the restroom and caused a bit of a scene. Everyone was on edge.
'I won't be sitting in an exit row again. It was terrifying.'
She also praised the men who stepped up to take the man down: 'I want to say thank you to those citizens who took control. I don't know if I could've done that. I wouldn't have known what to do.'
Emergency landing: Most of the other passengers had been asleep on All Nippon Airways flight NH114 when the commotion happened
Law enforcement and medical personnel were already standing when the plane touched down at SeaTac, at around 4.20am.
Police boarded the aircraft and audio captured the moment they prepared to remove the passenger.
One officer said to the man: 'Once I take you out of the seat, we're going to escort you off the flight, OK? If you try to fight us, force will be used against you.'
Both the restrained man and the random second passenger were escorted off.
Airport officials said the primary suspect had experienced a 'medical episode', and he was transported to a nearby hospital.
Seattle PD spokesman Chris Guizlo said: 'Police and EMS were told that a passenger tried to open an emergency exit door mid-flight.'
No charges had yet been announced, and the individual's identity and current condition remained unknown.
Generally, airplane doors could not be opened mid-flight because air pressure differences between inside and outside the cabin kept the aircraft's doors sealed.
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