Russian airline passenger snaps, goes on rampage, fights with fellow travelers, dies

A plane flying from Moscow to Simferopol was forced to return after one of the passengers snapped, assaulting fellow travelers and crew. The rowdy passenger was injured in the rampage and died on the way to the hospital.

The freak incident occurred on board of Red Wings flight WZ-307, shortly after it departed Moscow’s Domodedovo airport for Simferopol on Thursday. One of the passengers apparently “went mad,” as the eyewitnesses put it, and caused all sorts of trouble on board.

The passenger, identified as a man in his early thirties, began to bad-mouth pilots and claim they had fallen asleep, incited panic on board, and shouted that everyone “will die.” He then reportedly tried to strangle a woman and beat up another passenger with a cell phone.

The passenger’s behavior prompted a brawl on board and he was eventually subdued and tied to his seat. This all happened within twenty minutes of takeoff, at which point the crew decided to return to Moscow.

A video, showing the aftermath of the incident has emerged online. Other passengers can be heard jokingly debating whether the hooligan should be ejected with or without a parachute, and even criticizing a muscular passenger for abstaining from the brawl.

The whole affair promptly took a grim turn as it turned out that the rowdy passenger was critically injured in the brawl. He was rushed to the hospital, but died along the way.