[Courtesy of Richard Marx' Facebook]
American rock star Richard Marx was praised for brave heroism after he played a crucial role in controlling what he called a "psycho" Korean passenger who went on a drunken rampage aboard a flight from Vietnam to South Korea.
The incident took place Tuesday on a Korean Air plane flying to Incheon west of Seoul when a 34-year-old man created a disturbance for more than two hours after consuming two glasses of liquor, punching cabin crew members and other passengers.
The man was overpowered by a group of patience exhausted male passengers, including Marx. He was turned over to police after the plane arrived safely in Incheon.
On his Facebook, the 53-year-old rock ballad legend reported the situation and uploaded pictures taken by his wife, Daisy Fuentes, criticizing how the crew members were ill-prepared for such an incident.
[Courtesy of Daisy Fuentes' Instagram]
"Korean Air #480. A completely ill-prepared and untrained crew for a situation like this. Four hours of a psycho passenger attacking crew members and other passengers," he wrote.
In the uploaded images, Marx was seen holding a restraining rope in his hand. Other images showed Marx and other passengers in action to control the man while a scared stewardess was on guard with a taser gun.
A video uploaded on Facebook showed the drunken man kicking, spitting and hurling insults when crew members tied him down to the seat with ropes and cable ties.
Marx, who was on his way back to his home in Los Angeles via Incheon, said the man later broke his restraints and attacked more crew members and another passenger.
In his Facebook post, the singer lashed out at Korean Air: "Heading home to Los Angeles soon but Korean Air should be sanctioned for not knowing how to handle a situation like this without passenger interference."
Korean Air insisted crew members had faithfully followed a manual and were careful in using the stun gun in consideration of safety.
[Courtesy of Richard Marx' Facebook]
The story soon became a hot international topic. After returning home, Marx left a post humbly playing down his deeds of heroism saying it was all he could do in such a violent situation.
"Daisy and I are home safe and sound. No big 'hero' move at all. Just did what I would hope anyone would do in the same situation. Thank you for your concern."
Marx had a stream of hit singles in the late 1980s and 1990s, including "Endless Summer Nights" and "Now and Forever". He held a concert in Seoul in June this year.
Police said the man was booked without physical detention Wednesday on charges of violating the aviation security act and assault. He has been released because he was too intoxicated to be investigated but police will summon him later for further investigation.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.