A "berserk passenger" forced a Russian Boeing 777 to make an emergency landing at the airport from which the doomed missile-hit left on Christmas Day. The new drama saw Roman Pakhomov offloaded and detained in Baku, Azerbaijan after he allegedly "screamed like an animal, kicked employees, tried to break a window" during Friday's flight for Moscow, Russia.
The captain ordered him to be subdued but he "tore off the plastic handcuffs and adhesive tape, after which he punched his fists on the window," according to Russian media. So an emergency landing was made at Baku, from which the Embraer jet "hit by a Putin air defence missile" left on Wednesday. Some 38 people were killed and the 29 survivors were all injured when the plane came down in Kazakhstan.
Friday's incident saw Pakhomov, 38, allegedly down booze he purchased on the plane before becoming "wild". Footage shows male passengers assisting the crew in seeking to control the rowdy passenger in economy class. Pakhomov, a Russian national, was also seen tethered to a seat.
After the emergency landing, the man was taken into custody by the Azerbaijan police. The plane remained on the ground for two hours 45 minutes at Baku's Heydar Aliyev International Airport, before eventually flying on to Moscow. One Russian publication reported: "The aircraft commander gave the order to tie up the inadequate man with plastic handcuffs. However, the passenger could not be stopped - Roman tore off the handcuffs and adhesive tape and struck the window with his fists.".
