Chilling video shows manic passenger who tried to kill all onboard flight to Houston
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This is the moment a manic passenger was wrestled into a seat after trying to open the emergency exit mid-flight.
The suspect, who has not been named, attempted the terrifying stunt on the trip from Tokyo to Houston on Saturday morning.
He leapt up nine hours into the journey - when most were still sleeping - and lunged for the door handle on the All Nippon Airways plane.
But two military veterans as well as flight attendants rounded on him, hauling him away from the exit and pinning him into the seat before tying him up.
The captain was forced to divert to Seattle Airport, where video showed cops arresting the suspect and whisking him off to hospital.
The new footage starts as the former soldiers shove the man into the chair as he tries to wrestle free. One says: 'You're not going to make it to that window.'
Most of the other passengers had been asleep on the long-haul overnight flight when he made the sudden move.
One, called Ashley, told Fox 26: 'He got up in a hurry - I just assumed he was sick. But then he went for the emergency exit, and two men jumped into action.'
She continued: 'They zip-tied him to the seats directly behind me. Ashley described the two men as calm and trained.
She added: 'One said he had served in the Navy, and the other had been in for a long time, though I didn't catch which branch. They kept him restrained for over an hour.'
The captain turned the plane back to Seattle when it was over Washington state - just three hours away from Houston - and landed it within 45 minutes of the incident.
Ashely said: 'When we landed, a second man on the flight suddenly started acting strange. He went to the restroom and caused a bit of a scene. Everyone was on edge.
'I won't be sitting in an exit row again. It was terrifying.' She also praised the men who stepped up to take the man down.
She added: 'I want to say thank you to those citizens who took control. I don't know if I could've done that. I wouldn't have known what to do.'
Law enforcement and medical personnel were already standing by on the tarmac when the plane arrived at SeaTac around 4.20am.
Police boarded the aircraft, with audio capturing the moment officers prepared to remove the passenger.
One officer says: 'Once I take you out of the seat, we're going to escort you off the flight, okay? If you try to fight us, force will be used against you.'
Both the restrained man and the second passenger were escorted off the plane by police.
Airport officials said the primary suspect had experienced a 'medical episode', and he was transported to a nearby hospital.
Spokesman Chris Guizlo said: 'Police and EMS were told that a passenger tried to open an emergency exit door mid-flight.'
As of Saturday night no charges had been announced, and the individual's identity and current condition remain unknown.
Airplane doors generally cannot be opened mid-flight because air pressure differences between inside and outside the cabin keep the aircraft doors sealed.
