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Caught on Camera: Pre-Flight Fistfight Breaks Out on Plane Bound for LAX

The airline says one man was taken into custody after the altercation aboard the All Nippon Airways plane

A pre-flight fistfight was captured on camera Monday on board an All Nippon Airways plane that was about to take off from Tokyo to Los Angeles.

The video shows two passengers brawling on Flight No. 6 from Narita International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport. The airline said a man seen in the video wearing a red shirt was taken into custody, but details regarding charges were not immediately available.

"All Nippon Airways apologizes to our passengers on Flight No. 6 to Los Angeles for the pre-flight incident," ANA said in a statement issued Tuesday. "The individuals involved have been dealt with appropriately by local law enforcement."

NBC4 is attempting to obtain more details from Narita Airport Police.

As for the individual in custody, the airline statement said, "He was incoherent and physically violent and aggressive to other passengers." He was identified by the airline only as a U.S. citizen.

Passenger Corey Hour, who captured the video, told NBC News the "irate" man appeared to assault other passengers before takeoff, which was delayed by about 50 minutes due to weather issues. The airline told NBC4 the man was involved in confrontations with at least one woman and three men before takeoff.

Another passenger, the man seen in the dark shirt in the video, intervened, Hour said. 

"The moment I heard something vocally from him was when he was leaning over the back of the seat, speaking to the man in the black shirt, saying, 'Where are you from? And, then immediately following that with, 'I'm going to kill you,'" Hour said. "The gentleman in the black was fighting defensively. He wasn't trying to start anything. He was a very calm, collected individual."

Hour said adults were protecting children, who can be heard crying on his video, as the men exchanged blows.

"There was a child in the row right in front," Hour said. "I remember his mom hunched over, cradling the child and his grandmother shielding them."

The altercation appeared to end when the man was escorted to the front of the passenger cabin, but he soon returned to exchange more punches. 

"He was trying to continue fighting the gentleman," Hour told NBC News. "The flight attendants were in the middle of it."

At that point, Hour said he decided to stop recording and help restrain the passenger. When he was told to leave the plane, Hour said the man responded, "You think I'm crazy? The government is crazy."

After the man was taken into custody, other passengers continued on their flight to LAX. 

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