Sgt. Maj. Jody Armentrout speaks to Marines at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, in September 2023. (Darien Wright/U.S. Marine Corps)
TOKYO — A Japanese airline has thanked a U.S. Marine for subduing a disruptive passenger who allegedly attempted to open an exit door during a flight from Tokyo to Houston on Saturday.
Sgt. Maj. Jody Armentrout, the senior enlisted adviser at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni south of Hiroshima, intervened during the incident on All Nippon Airways Flight 114.
The flight departed Tokyo’s Haneda Airport around 10:49 a.m. Saturday. A passenger “tried to open a door while in flight and another passenger apprehended the person,” an ANA spokeswoman told Stars and Stripes by phone Thursday. Some Japanese officials speak to the press only on condition of anonymity.
The Marine’s actions were detailed in an interview with NBC News on Sunday. Armentrout said he grew suspicious after observing a passenger with a backpack enter and exit multiple restrooms.
“He came out of that one and began pacing up and down the aisle, so that just threw my radar on,” he told the network.
When the man began staring at an exit door, Armentrout said he got up and stood in his path. The man then ran through the galley toward a different exit on the other side of the aircraft.
“He grabbed a strap around the door, pulled it off, and about that time is when I took him and slammed him, put him on the ground,” Armentrout said in the report. “And then there was an older gentleman sitting on that side that woke up, and he got up and kind of helped me.”
Flight attendants provided zip ties that Armentrout used to restrain the man in a seat, he said.
“His eyes — you could definitely tell there was something going on,” he told NBC.
The flight was diverted to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where it landed at 4:35 a.m. that day. No injuries were reported, and the unruly passenger was handed over to local authorities, the airline said.
The plane later continued to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, arriving at 12:55 p.m., approximately four hours behind schedule.
“We would like to express our gratitude to the person, who cooperated on the airplane,” the ANA spokeswoman said. “Safety of customers and staff is our highest priority.”
Marine Corps officials in Japan did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
