Charles Liu, An Air Canada flight was forced to return to Beijing Airport after a Chinese passenger attacked a flight attendant on Tuesday.
See Also: Out-of-Control Airline Passenger On Hong Kong Flight Restrained with Seat Belts and Packing Tape
Flight AC32 was flying over Russian airspace two hours into its journey towards Toronto when the incident happened in the plane’s business class cabin. According to a passenger on board the plane, the attacker was trying to sexually assault the flight attendant, but the Chinese media have not said whether the assault was sexual in nature. The pilot requested an emergency landing in Japan but was refused, so decided to turn back to Beijing. The attacker was then taken away by police.
Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick told Hong Kong’s Ming Pao that due to a disturbance two hours into the flight between a passenger and crew member, the plane was forced to return and land in Beijing. According to the report, Fitzpatrick did not elaborate on what happened.
The flight was delayed for six hours in Beijing before restarting its 13-hour non-stop journey. AC32 eventually arrived at Toronto Pearson International Airport at 11:38am. It was originally scheduled to arrive at 6:21pm.
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