Passengers subdue chaotic man on board Turkish Airlines jet

ISTANBUL — An Associated Press photographer says passengers on board a Turkish Airlines flight to Sudan had to subdue a man who started screaming soon after takeoff and began smashing an oxygen mask box and then a cabin window, before pushing flight attendants aside and rushing toward the cockpit.

Hussein Malla, who was on Friday’s flight, said several passengers stopped the man in the Boeing 737-900’s business class section. Flight attendants calmed him down and the plane kept heading to Khartoum.

Hours later, the pilots announced the plane was returning to Istanbul. The man suddenly stood up and headed toward the front of the plane, when others grabbed him and shackled him with plastic restraints.

Police escorted the man off the plane at Istanbul. The airline and police did not immediately respond to AP requests for comment.

The Associated Press