SEATTLE _ A Tampa, Fla., man who allegedly assaulted flight attendants on a Seattle-to-Beijing flight was charged Friday with interference with flight crew members and flight attendants.
The man, identified as Joseph Daniel Hudek IV, 23, tried to open an exit door and assaulted two flight attendants and a passenger during the Thursday evening flight, according to a criminal complaint. Hudek appeared in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Friday afternoon.
After the incident, Hudek was pulled off a Delta flight to Beijing, which had to return to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The flight again left Sea-Tac for Beijing just after midnight on its scheduled 11 {-hour flight, according to FlightAware.com.
The Port of Seattle, citing the FBI, said no information suggests there was a national security threat.
Delta Flight 129 had been in the air for about 45 minutes when the passenger assaulted the flight attendant in the first-class cabin, Port of Seattle spokesman Perry Cooper said. Others restrained the passenger until the flight arrived back at Sea-Tac shortly after 7 p.m.
The flight attendant and another passenger were taken to a hospital with injuries that weren't life-threatening, Cooper said.
Passenger Dustin Jones was seated just behind the curtains that lead to first class, and said he could tell there was a scuffle happening.
"One of the flight attendants ran back and said there was a Code 3," Jones told KIRO-TV. "There was a serious fight up front."
Jones said he saw the man handcuffed and zip-tied being rolled into the terminal in a wheelchair after the plane landed.
"He started yelling for help," Jones said. "And so he turned the wheelchair over in the middle of the airport, screaming for people to help him, just being belligerent."
