Jody Armetrout was sitting in a Row Row seat at All Nippon Airways Flight 114 on Saturday traveling from Tokyo to Houston when he noticed that a man was acting strangely.
Argentout, who has served in the Marines for more than 20 years and is headquarters in Japan, has been trained to be vigilant. He said he saw the man take his backpack to one of the bathrooms, then go out and go to another bathroom, and then another bathroom.
“He left that and began to walk up and down the hall, so he simply threw my radar,” said Armetrout, 50 years old, in a telephone interview.
But then, Armetrout said, he saw the man looking at the emergency exit just by his side. Armetrout said he stood up, putting himself between the man and the exit door.
It was then that the man turned around, ran through the galley of the plane and threw himself to the exit door on the opposite side, said Armetrout. Sergeant Major knew that he had seconds to act.
“He grabbed a belt around the door, he succeeded, and approximately that time is when I took it and hit it, put it on the floor,” said Armetrout. “And then there was an older gentleman sitting on that side that woke up, and got up and helped me.”
Armetrout said that the hostesses gave him strips, which he placed around the dolls of the man and used to secure him to a seat. It was announced that the plane would be diverted to Seattle as a result of the incident, and Armetrout said he sat next to the man until they landed at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
“His eyes, it is definitely noticing that something was happening,” said Armetrout.
The entire Nippon Airways flight 114 left Haneda’s airport on Saturday morning and was heading to George Bush’s intercontinental airport in Houston when a passenger became “rebel”, according to the airline. Port of Seattle police told NBC News that the passenger tried to open exit doors during the flight.
Police confirmed that passengers and flight crew restricted the person, which has not been identified.
The flight landed in Seattle at 4:19 am PT, and the man was taken from the plane, police said. It was evaluated and it was determined that it was “having a medical crisis,” according to the police. The man was later taken to a local hospital.
Argentout said he acted for concern for his fellow passengers, especially multiple babies on board.
“I simply knew that I was plotting something crazy, and at the end of the day, I was willing to risk that he said: ‘I’m not doing anything’ and then simply making him sit down, that I allow him to do anything that puts someone at risk,” said Armetrout.
Other passengers on the flight took the time to thank Armetrout for taking measures when he did, he said.
But the flight event did not stop there. Once in the asphalt of Seattle, another passenger who “was frustrated by the flight deviation” hit the door of a bathroom, according to the FBI Seattle field office.
That person, who has not been identified, was withdrawn from the flight, which finally landed in Houston at 12:42 pm CT, according to FlightWame.com.
After finally arriving at Houston, Arollout said he was happy that his feet were on the floor.
“It was a strange flight,” said Armetrout, added that he will return to Japan on Friday and will feel a little anxious for the trip.
Taking into account what happened, Armetrout wants others to stay aware of their surroundings.
“I want to make sure that everyone understands what time we are, in this world today, and that they need to be aware of their surroundings all the time,” he said.
