Three Marines are receiving praise for subduing a hostile and disruptive passenger during a flight from Tokyo to Dallas.
Capt. Daniel Kult, Sgt. John Dietrick, and Pfc. Alexander Meinhardt, North Carolina-based Marines assigned to the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, sprang into action on Monday when they heard screaming coming from the plane’s bathroom and a man making what officials called threatening remarks. They managed to subdue the man and applied flex ties to keep him restrained.
“While watching a movie during my flight from Japan to Texas, I started to hear screaming coming from the restroom on board,” Dietrick, an infantry assault section leader from Mechanicsville, Virginia, said in a statement. “When I took off my headphones, I heard a man sounding very distraught and screaming from the bathroom.”
“We just assessed the situation and acted. Working with the flight crew, we got the door open and from there worked together to subdue him. We didn’t take time to talk it over. We just got ready and did what we needed to help.” https://t.co/aPl2bohcwi
— WJHG-TV (@WJHG_TV) May 5, 2020
The other two Marines also shared their account of the situation.
“I knew I had to step in when he became a danger to others and himself. I didn’t think twice about helping restrain him through the rest of the flight.” Meinhardt, a mortarman from Sparta, Wisconsin, said.
“We just assessed the situation and acted. Working with the flight crew, we got the door open and from there worked together to subdue him. We didn’t take time to talk it over. We just got ready and did what we needed to help,” Kult, of Coons Rapids, Iowa, added.
Now, they’re being lauded for their bravery.
“I happen to know all three of them, two of them well, and they are all what I would call ‘men of action,'” Lt. Col. Chris Niedziocha, the commander of the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, said in a statement. “I’m continually amazed by and grateful for the people we have in this battalion.”
The flight was then diverted to Los Angeles so the subdued passenger could be taken for a mental evaluation. An investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California as well as the FBI’s Los Angeles office.
