U.S. Marines Subdue Hostile Passenger Barricaded In Bathroom

U.S. Marines Subdue Hostile Passenger Barricaded In Bathroom

Three Marines flying from Japan to Texas subdued a man who barricaded himself inside the bathroom and made threatening comments.  The Marines kept the man subdued until the flight was able to make an emergency landing after the flight was diverted.

WNCT reports:

Capt. Daniel Kult, Sgt. John Dietrick, and Pfc. Alexander Meinhardt of 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2d Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, were traveling to the United States from a Unit Deployment Program in Okinawa, Japan, on a flight from Tokyo, when a passenger barricaded himself inside the lavatory and made threatening comments.

“While watching a movie during my flight from Japan to Texas, I started to hear screaming coming from the restroom on board,” said Dietrick, an infantry assault section leader from Mechanicsville, Virginia. “When I took off my headphones, I heard a man sounding very distraught and screaming from the bathroom.”

According to the report, the Marines made it a joint effort with the flight attendant to take down the man.  The men huddled up outside of the bathroom the passenger barricaded himself in.  As soon as the flight attendant unlocked the bathroom door, the men subdued him and put him in flex ties.

The Marines assisted with keeping him subdued through the remainder of the flight until the plan made an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport.  A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Airport Police said, “The three Marines were on-board and able to restrain the unruly passenger.  Great job done by those Marines!”

Flight Information

It appears as though this might have been American Airlines Flight 60.  American told me that flight 60 did divert on Monday due to a disruption.  AA60 normally operates between Narita Airport and DFW.  Flight tracking from Monday, May 4 shows AA60 landed in Los Angeles rather than Dallas.  American Airlines uses a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner for that route.

Bottom Line

Of course, people should always use caution when taking matters into their own hands.  When U.S. Marines subdue hostile passenger, it’s what they are trained to do.  It’s great three Marines were there to assist the crew with getting the situation under control.  There’s no way of knowing as somebody is yelling threats from the bathroom what they are planning to do.

This is a situation that seems to have turned out relatively okay for everybody onboard.  Nobody got hurt and, aside from a flight diversion, there was little disruption to the passengers.  Great job on the Marines helping get this situation under control.