A latest transpacific All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight was a bit extra eventful than most passengers had been in all probability hoping for, after a diversion turned vital…
Tokyo to Houston flight diverts to Seattle after chaos
This incident occurred on Saturday, Might 24, 2025, and includes ANA flight NH14, scheduled to function from Tokyo (HND) to Houston (IAH). The 6,677-mile flight was operated by a Boeing 787-9 with the license plate JA934A, and usually takes someplace round 11-12 hours.
The Pacific crossing was reportedly uneventful, with the joy beginning round 9 hours into the flight, after the airplane made landfall, flying over Washington and Idaho. At that time, a passenger reportedly jumped up and tried to open the emergency exit, with none form of warning.
Fortuitously there have been two navy veterans seated close by, who dragged him away from the exit, and pinned him down, in order that he was restrained. The crew and the 2 males then used zip ties to restrain the man.
In fact the choice was made to divert, and the airplane headed towards the closest main worldwide airport, which was Seattle Tacoma (SEA). The airplane landed there round 45 minutes after the incident, at round 4:20AM.
At that time, police boarded the plane, and the person was faraway from the airplane. Video footage reveals this interplay, and the officers performing calmly. Whereas the person concerned within the incident hasn’t been recognized, airport officers mentioned that the suspect had a “medical episode,” and he was transported to a close-by hospital.
Oddly, throughout the diversion, one other passenger onboard additionally turned unruly and began performing unusual, and he was eliminated as effectively.
The airplane ended up taking off from Seattle at 7:04AM, after a bit of over 2.5 hours on the bottom, to proceed its journey to Houston. The airplane touched down there at 12:42PM, roughly 4 hours after its scheduled 8:45AM arrival.
The excellent news and unhealthy information from this incident
The excellent news with incidents like that is that there’s restricted direct danger from somebody making an attempt to open an emergency exit throughout a flight. That’s as a result of an emergency exit door can’t be opened in the midst of the flight, as a result of strain distinction between contained in the cabin and out of doors.
An emergency exit might solely realistically be opened at a decrease altitude, when the pressurization distinction isn’t as large, and at that time the airplane can also be flying slower, and the danger is decrease. In fact it goes with out saying that seeing one thing like that is terrifying, whatever the direct danger.
The unhealthy information is that we’re seeing folks attempt to open emergency exits with an alarming frequency in latest occasions. I don’t know if I’d describe these as “copycat” incidents, or what, because it’s not like that is ever profitable.
Nevertheless, it’s unhappy how the idea of robust passengers having to leap into motion and restraint others appears to be on the rise. We’re not fearful about terrorism on an airliner within the conventional sense, however there may be motive to be involved with these fixed psychological well being conditions.
Backside line
An ANA Boeing 787 flying from Tokyo to Houston diverted to Seattle, after a person tried to open the emergency exit door at altitude. Fortuitously he was rapidly restrained and zip tied, after which eliminated on the diversion level. Whereas the direct danger of that is restricted (as a result of pressurization distinction between the within and out of doors of the cabin), it’s nonetheless terrifying that that is changing into a reasonably frequent incidence.
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