Plane Bound for US Returns to Tokyo After Biting Incident

A male passenger, said to be an American, was detained by police
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 17, 2024 8:55 AM CST
Plane Bound for US Returns to Tokyo After Biting Incident
All Nippon Airways (ANA) airplanes are seen at Haneda airport in Tokyo on March 31, 2022.   (Kyodo News via AP)

The 159 passengers of All Nippon Airways' Flight 118 only made it about an hour into their journey to Seattle Tuesday night before the plane turned around and returned to Tokyo. The cause? An unruly male passenger, this time one who an airline rep said bit a female flight attendant, reports CNN. She suffered minor injuries. The unnamed passenger, described by an ANA rep as a "heavily intoxicated" 55-year-old American, was detained by police upon the plane's arrival at Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

AFP reports the man reportedly told fellow passengers he couldn't recall what happened, with Kyodo News adding he had reportedly taken a sleeping pill. CNN notes that two previous biting incidents resulted in the biggest fines ever imposed by the FAA on individual passengers. Both cases involved women who bit crew members and fellow passengers while flying on American Airlines and Delta. The fines were $81,950 and $77,272. (More unruly passenger stories.)

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