Man Causes Terror On Flight, Attacking People And 'Grabbing Child By The Neck'

Passengers watched in horror as a man sexually assaulted a young female passenger, grabbed a child by the neck and even tried to attack a baby mid-flight.



The 47-year-old launched into a foul-mouthed rant as he marched up and down the packed plane as he randomly lashed out at travellers.



He tried to strangle several women, tried to sit down next to several people he threatened and sexually abused terrified passengers, witnesses on the flight have claimed.



The man even tried to undress at one point as other passengers looked on in terror.



Eventually, several men on the flight managed to overpower him and he was constrained by crew members with straps.



The terrifying ordeal was on an overnight S7 - Siberian Airlines - flight from St Petersburg to Novosibirsk.



Armed police came on board the A320 Airbus to detain the man when the four hour flight S7-3338 landed in Novosibirsk, said Irina Volk, spokeswoman for the Russian Interior Ministry.



The captain had demanded a police presence on landing.



Passenger Stanislav Semenov said: “A man on board became violent. His seat was somewhere in the front of the cabin.



“I was on the 20th row. At first, he began just to walk here and there, swearing all the time, disturbing passengers with questions and being abusive.



“A steward offered him a seat at the back but he kept walking up and down, and started attacking passengers randomly and beating them.



“It was the same - he asked something and swore and punched another passenger. Then he took a seat next to a young woman and began to sexually harass her.



“He grabbed and pulled her hair, then he switched to a young man, saying something to him then punching and striking him with his elbow.



“Then he went and took a seat next to another young man, and a little girl was sitting in the front, so he moved forwards and grabbed her neck.



“At that moment a steward jumped on him and pushed him away, trying to become a new target for him.



“Next he went to the man who was sitting in front of me with a baby in his arms. He said to the baby ‘Hi, little slut’ - then tried to reach the child with his arms.



“Then he switched to me and said he would break my face, so I stood up, took off my glasses, and he attacked and hit me.



“I hit him in return – at this moment other men rushed to us and blocked him, pushing him down on a vacant seat.



“The steward ran up with some belts which we used to tie him until police could deal with him when we landed.”



Another passenger Alexey Mamontov said the man threw punches and kicked other passengers.



He added: “He attacked young women and tried to strangle them, he banged the sides of the cabin and the windows.



“He was walking along the cabin and beating passengers. He came up to me and asked if I know him – I said no – so he punched me too.



“A steward tried to push him away, then he punched another man and finally several men joined in and we managed to make force him down on a vacant seat.



“He was particularly abusing women. He used abusive words, tried to strangle several young women."



At one point the man was shouting about “Olympic gold medals”.



It is understood no passengers received medical assistance at the airport.



Later the man went on a rampage in a police cell at Novosibirsk’s Tolmachevo airport, banging on his cell, and taking off his shirt.



Passengers said they did not believe the man was drunk. The airline does not offer alcohol in economy class on this route.



He was later taken under armed guard by ambulance for medical checks.