Marine reveals chilling moment he heroically stopped manic passenger from killing all onboard Houston flight

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

A heroic Marine has told how he managed to stop a manic passenger from killing everyone onboard a flight from Japan to Houston, Texas.
Jody Armentrout, a sergeant major who has served in the Marines for over 20 years, was sitting in the emergency exit row on All Nippon Airways Flight 114 from Tokyo to Houston on Saturday when he said he noticed a man acting strange.
Trained to remain vigilant at all times, Armentrout said he watched as the man take his backpack into one of the bathrooms, then came out and went to another bathroom on the flight - and then a third.
'He came out of that one and began pacing up and down the aisle, so that just threw my radar on,' the 50-year-old Marine told NBC News.
Soon, he said, he saw the man eyeing the emergency exit door next to him.
At that point, Armentrout said he stood up to block the man from the exit door - which only prompted the manic passenger to rush to the door in the opposite aisle.
The man immediately grabbed the strap on the door - and Armentrout said he knew he had just seconds to act.
'About that time is when I slammed him, put him on the ground,' the Marine said.
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'And then there was an older gentleman sitting on that side that woke up and he got up and kind of helped me.'
Together, the two men were able to secure the unruly passenger into a seat as he tried to wrestle free.
They were aided by flight attendants, who Armentrout said handed him zip ties, which he placed around the man's wrists to secure him to the seat.
Armentrout then sat with the man until the plane safely landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington, where it was temporarily diverted.
As he sat with the unidentified passenger, Armentrout said he noticed the man's eyes.
'You could definitely tell there was something going on.'
When the plane finally landed in Seattle just about 45 minutes later, police escorted the man off of the flight.
They could be seen in footage posted online telling the man, 'If you try to fight us, force will be used against you.'
One officer says: 'Once I take you out of the seat, we're going to escort you off the flight, okay? If you try to fight us, force will be used against you.'
The man was then apparently taken off the plane without incident, and was evaluated.
Airport officials have since claimed the man had experienced some sort of 'medical episode' and was transported to a nearby hospital.
But the drama of the international flight did not end there- as another passenger who FBI agents say was 'frustrated at the flight diversion' punched a bathroom door.
That individual, who has not been identified, was also removed from the flight - which then continued on to Houston, landing at around 12.42 pm local time.
When it finally landed, Armentrout said he was just glad to be on the ground.
He noted that he had just been acting out of concern for his fellow passengers, including multiple infants.
'I just knew he was up to something crazy and at the end of the day, I was willing to take the risk of him saying "I'm not doing anything," and then just them making him go sit back down, than me allowing him to do anything that's going to put anybody at risk,' the Marine said.
He added that he now hopes others also remain aware of their surroundings.
'I want to make sure everybody understands what time we are in in this world nowadays and that they need to be aware of their surroundings all the time,' Armentrout said.
As of Thursday, no charges had been filed for either the man who apparently tried to open the emergency door or the other individual who punched the door.