A crazed American became so aggressive and violent on a KLM flight from Abu Dhabi to Amsterdam that the Royal Netherlands Air Force scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to intercept the plane and escort it to home base.
Quite what the fighter jets could have done is unclear – they are armed with air-to-air missiles but that seems an extreme way to break up a fight, even one that involves an apparent maniac.
Fighter jets are scrambled only in highly unusual cases, the Royal Netherlands Air Force told news agency AFP. It’s possible the airline thought the man might try to invade the cockpit, though that should be impossible.
Police sources said the aggressor was a 29-year-old American who began pacing the aisle and grew aggressive when a purser asked him to return to his seat.
Passengers said the man seemed “disoriented” rather than drunk – and then suddenly went berserk “screaming and hitting wildly around him”.
Flight attendants and other passengers tried to restrain the man as a full-on fight broke out over Germany about 30 minutes before the plane, an A330-200, was due to land at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
Stop that fighting! Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 closes in.
On landing, military police arrested the American, who was removed under guard and conveyed to a psychiatric institution.
A spokeswoman for KLM said the airline “regretted the unpleasant incident” and added that passengers and crew had lodged formal complaints against the man.
Written by Peter Needham
.jpg){kind=tracking}
