Turbulence before take-off as plane rage in Japan caught on video

[May 03, 2017]  TOKYO (Reuters) - An American has been detained in Tokyo for allegedly assaulting an airline employee after a fight on a plane bound for Los Angeles, police said on Wednesday, in the latest bout of plane rage to go viral on social media.

All Nippon Airways Flight 6 was waiting to take off from Narita airport on Monday when the fight broke out, media said.

An airport police officer, who declined to be identified, said the suspect, an American in his 40s, was being held on suspicion of injuring an ANA employee.

The video of the onboard altercation was attributed to Corey Hour, a Phoenix-based videographer sitting a few rows behind the suspect. It showed a man clad in a red-patterned shirt punching another man and then evading a female flight attendant who attempted to calm him.

Media said the man also assaulted a gate agent when leaving the plane.

"ANA staff and passengers handled the situation with grace and respect. They did the best they could to defuse the situation," Hour said in an unverified tweet on Monday.

ANA, operated by ANA Holdings Inc. <9202.T>, could not be immediately reached for comment.

All Nippon Airways' (ANA) planes are seen at Haneda airport in Tokyo February 14, 2014. REUTERS/Yuya Shino

The incident came after last month's viral video of 69-year-old passenger David Dao being dragged from a United Airlines <UAL.N> flight at Chicago after he refused to give up his seat to make room for crew members.

A separate passenger video on an American Airlines <AAL.O> flight last month showed showing a woman on a plane in tears holding a child in her arms and another at her side after an encounter with a flight attendant over a baby stroller.

(Reporting by Lisa Twaronite; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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