Convict Passenger Allegedly Stepped On Child, Tried Punching Flight Attendant, Plane Diverted

A Hawaiian Airlines flight, flying to South Korea, was diverted to Oahu, Hawaii, after a reportedly convicted felon onboard tried to punch a flight attendant Wednesday.

The unruly passenger, Kyong Chol-kim, 47, was arrested by federal agents following the incident. As a result of his alleged behavior, the flight, which took off from Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in the afternoon, was forced to change course midair.

“Hawaiian Airlines flight HA459 departed Honolulu for Incheon International Airport yesterday at 1 p.m. local time [6 p.m. EST] carrying 263 passengers and 13 crew. Approximately four hours into the flight, the Captain made the decision to return to Honolulu due to an unruly passenger. Passengers briefly deplaned and HA459 departed HNL at 10:35 p.m. and arrived at ICN at 4:28 a.m. local time today [Thursday]. We apologize to our guests for the inconvenience,” Hawaiian Airlines confirmed in a statement to Fox News.

According to a copy of the criminal complaint filed Thursday in the U.S. district court, obtained by Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Kyong, a Korean national, was refused entry in Honolulu when he arrived there Monday. The Customs and Border Protection personnel said he was not carrying proper documentation with him.

He was detained at the Honolulu Federal Detention Center till arrangements could be made for him to fly back to Incheon, South Korea, via a flight Wednesday. The complaint added that although Kyong was accompanied by customs agents, who stayed with him till the plane’s doors closed, a duty-free worker somehow managed to sneak into the flight and hand him a bottle of Ballantine whisky. Kyong ended up drinking the entire bottle before the flight attendants began their services.

The 47-year-old man soon started behaving oddly, frequently touching a nine-year-old boy sitting next to him, in spite of the child’s mother requesting him not to disturb him. Kyong refused to stop even when one of the flight attendants intervened and instead, began yelling he was “going to get” her.

Next, he allegedly stepped on the child’s shoulders “in an attempt to propel himself” toward the attendant, the court filings said. Although he took a swing at the crew member, he missed. The flight attendant got so scared that she “moved toward the front of the plane.”

Attendants and a number of passengers were forced to handcuff him after he started yelling at the top of lungs in both English and Korean. After the pilot was called inside the cabin, he “observed a very erratic and belligerent man” who struggled against the seat belt and cuffs, all the while continuing to scream. After that, the flight crew made the decision to return to Honolulu as they could not work with Kyong on board.

FBI, Customs and Border Protection agents and deputy sheriffs were waiting for Kyong when the plane landed. He was arrested and transported back to the federal detention center. He appeared before the court Thursday who set a detention hearing for March 5 and a preliminary hearing for March 13. No details were immediately available regarding his prior convictions.