A Delta Air Lines flight bound for Beijing, China was forced to return to Washington's Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Thursday after a man allegedly attacked a flight attendant.
According to Seattle's KIRO 7, the incident occurred roughly 45 minutes into the flight when a 23-year-old man seated in first class assaulted a crew member.
Sea-Tac Airport spokesman Perry Cooper said passengers assisted in restraining the man until the flight landed. He was arrested by Port of Seattle police shortly after 7 p.m. local time Thursday.
A flight attendant and one other person were taken to the hospital with injuries.
"Flight 129 returned to Seattle following a security incident with a passenger. The passenger was restrained onboard and was removed from the flight by law enforcement without further incident when the aircraft arrived back in Seattle," Delta confirmed in a statement.
Passengers who witnessed the incident said the man was pacing up and down the cabin aisle before attempting to open the exit door. Witnesses said the man punched a flight attendant who tried to stop him.
"One of the flight attendants ran back and said there was a Code 3," passenger Dustin Jones told KIRO 7. "There was a serious fight up front."
"They broke two bottles of wine on his head. I tried to choke him and he just threw me off like a rag doll," said an unidentified passenger.
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Jones said the man was rolled into the terminal in handcuffs and a wheelchair after being arrested.
"He started yelling for help," he told KIRO 7. "And so he turned the wheelchair over in the middle of the airport, screaming for people to help him, just being belligerent."
Delta Flight 129 took off again for Beijing without incident Thursday night after airport and FBI officials determined there was no threat to national security.
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