A Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to Jakarta, Indonesia was forced to make an emergency diversion after a passenger was recorded on video throwing a punch at a member of cabin crew around nine hours into what should have been an eleven hour to the Indonesian capital.
It’s unclear what prompted the violence but by the time other passengers had started to record what was happening, cabin crew were already attempting to restrain the unruly passenger.
Pesawat yang seharusnya mendarat di Bandara Soekarno Hatta pukul 18.05 WIB itu mengalami keterlambatan karena seorang penumpang yang merupakan WNI bernama Muhammad John Jaiz Boudewijn (48) mabuk dan menyerang kru pesawat.
— Catch Me Up! (@catchmeupid) October 12, 2022
video: @kabarpenumpang pic.twitter.com/7NP1N0CYRt
In a short video clip of the incident posted on Twitter, a member of cabin crew is seen to be holding a pair of plastic handcuffs before the passenger jumps towards him swinging a punch.
One witness claims the passenger had thrown a bottle of water at one of the flight attendants and the situation quickly escalated.
During the short clip, other cabin crew quickly rush to the aid of their colleague and witnesses say the man was subdued with restraints before the aircraft was diverted to Kualanamu International Airport where authorities removed the suspect.
The member of cabin crew who was attacked is believed to have received medical assistance but was not seriously injured in the incident.
Turkish Airlines flight TK56 operated by a Boeing 777-300 was on the ground for just over an hour before being cleared to continue its journey to Jakarta.
Local media reports claim that unruly behaviour onboard an aircraft can land perpetrators in jail for up to a year. It is not known whether the suspect in this case has yet been charged.
