'Hooligan' Airline Passenger 'Neutralized', Hogtied By Fellow Travelers After Mid-Air Rampage

Passengers aboard a flight from Bangkok to Russia tackled and tied up a man mid-air after he started attacking people around him.

The man, believed to be 26 years old, turned abusive and violent after drinking from a bottle of whisky on the S7 Airlines A320 flight from Bangkok. Passengers “neutralized” him after the crew members failed to deal with him. The pilot too warned he was prepared to make an emergency landing to hand over the violent passenger to police in China or Mongolia, the Sun reported.

Images from the flight show the man, hogtied with sticky tapes and belts, lying on the aircraft galley floor with his hands behind his back. He was tied for four hours until the flight reached Russia.

Reports suggest the passenger was recently released from jail.

Colonel Irina Volk, a spokeswoman for the Russian Interior Ministry, said, a male passenger “hit the hooligan several times and with the help of other tourists tied him up. Witnesses confirmed that the captain had warned passengers that they might need to land in China or Mongolia because of this hooligan.”

Passengers said the man started “offensive and threatening behavior” three hours into the flight.

A passenger, Pavel Makarov, said, “I spotted him at the beginning of the fight – with a half empty whisky bottle and behaving strangely” and three hours into the flight the pilot intervened.

“There were three ways out under international aviation rules - one, the hooligan calms down. Two, we continue flying and give the guy away to police on arrival. Three, the plane lands in China or Mongolia and we sort it out on the ground. The abuser got more and more wild and finally passengers neutralized him. They tied him with sticky tape and belts,” he added.

Spokesperson of the airline said, “The passenger behaved in inadequate way during the flight. He was drinking alcohol, disturbed other passengers and did not react to orders from the crew. For the sake of security, stewardesses have called the hooligan to the galley in the rear of the plane and tried to calm him down. But he began to wave his arms, to threaten and abuse the crew and passengers.”

“During the rest of the flight he was closely watched by one of the stewards and a doctor — one of the passengers. As a result of this incident, there were no delays. On arrival to Novosibirsk the hooligan was given away to airport police department where he was charged with hooliganism,” the spokesperson added.