Turkish Airlines plane makes emergency landing as passenger attack cabin crew

JAKARTA

A Turkish Airlines flight carrying passengers from Istanbul to Jakarta had to make a diversion for Medan due to a cabin disturbance caused by a passenger biting a cabin attendant’s finger.

Police have identified the passenger as Muhammad John Jaiz Boudewijn, a 48-year-old Indonesian national, who was returning to Jakarta following a personal trip to Türkiye.

Local media outlets reported that Boudewijn is a pilot for Indonesian carrier Batik Air, a subsidiary of Lion Air Group. Lion Air has confirmed that Boudewijn is their employee, but stressed that his actions do not reflect the values of the company.

Authorities say Boudewijn was under the influence of alcohol and bit the finger of the flight attendant when he was reminded of his disorderly conduct during the flight.

Footage of the incident has gone viral online, showing a male passenger taking swings at the flight’s cabin crew. One attendant can be seen kicking the passenger to push him back.

He was then beaten by other passengers.

“It was forced to land in [Medan’s] Kualanamu Airport because there was a passenger who caused a scene by creating a disturbance,” Soekarno-Hatta Airport Police Chief Sigit Dani Setiyono told the local media.

The passenger was deplaned at Kualanamu Airport, and the plane continued the journey to the final destination, Jakarta.