The front page of the Jinan Shibao (济南时报) today reports on a violent altercation that took place between two Chinese passengers on a Swiss Air flight from Zurich to Beijing on Sunday. All it took was some spilled dinner and a little alcohol.
On Monday this week, a spokesperson for Swiss Air confirmed that one its flights, LX196 from Zurich to Beijing, was forced to turn around above Moscow and return to its point of origin. The reason for this was a violent brawl that broke out between two Chinese passengers. It must have been some fight, because the captain in charge seriously considered landing straight away in Moscow, but ultimately decided to return to Zurich due to the difficulties the passengers might face in landing and staying in Moscow. So the plane returned to Zurich, and all the passengers were put up for the night and placed on other flights to Beijing the next day. The two brawlers, however, were handed over to the Zurich police, but were released the next day after paying a fine.
So what exactly happened? The Swiss newspaper Blick provided more details (for the report in German, with a short video and witness reports, see here). The fight was between two men, one older at 57 years, and the other younger at about 29 years. The action commenced just after dinner was served. It all started when the younger man in the row ahead of the older man adjusted his seat backwards, causing the older man’s food to fall on the floor. The older man then proceeded to yell and shout at the man in the row in front of him. All this seems pretty normal so far.
But when the younger man kept ignoring the man behind him (still nothing strange), the older man got out of his seat and hit the young man with the flat of his hand on the head. At this, the young man jumped up and all hell broke loose, with the two hitting and shoving each other to the floor. When the stewardess tried to break up the fight, the older man was completely out of control and even tried to grab her around the throat. With the help of some fellow passengers, the man was finally brought under control. He had his hands bound and placed in the row of seats right at the back, but he kept shouting for an hour (probably until the booze wore off).
Links and sources
Blick (Passagier filmte Chinesen, Augenzeugin spricht)
Jinan Times (斗殴迫返航班丢人丢出国门)