Did this post-9/11 air travel incident happen, or did I imagine it?

[toadspittle]

I remember hearing about an incident that happened in the months following 9/11: On a domestic plane flight, a man started acting irrationally. He may have been confused or ill or who knows what, but the result was that his fellow passengers tackled him—and actually wound up crushing him to death under the weight of their bodies.

Did anything like this happen, or did I dream it up? (Like Skittlebrau…?)

[TroutMan]

Here is one that happened pre-9/11 (August 2000). Maybe this is what you remembered?

Mr. Burton of Las Vegas was flying to Salt Lake City to visit a relative when he became involved in an argument with a flight attendant. The situation deteriorated. A group of about eight people on board the plane wrestled with him and restrained him. He died of asphyxiation, an autopsy found. His body had multiple bruises and contusions on the chest, legs, arms and face.

[BrotherCadfael]

This was also the plot of an episode of CSI.

[samclem]

@toadspittle

Did anything like this happen, or did I dream it up? (Like Skittlebrau…?)

I did a search on US newspapers for the year afterwards, but knowing exactly what terms to use was a problem. I found nothing like what you described.

[AlsoNamedBort]

I had just happened to read about this incident a couple days ago, which happened on Oct 8, 2001.

On American Airlines Flight 1238, en route from Los Angeles to Chicago, a man with severe mental problems stormed the cockpit 40 minutes before landing in Chicago, causing the plane to drop sharply and causing a panic. In light of the fear ignited by 9/11, flight crew and passengers were quick to wrestle the man to the ground and subdue him. Additionally, a distress signal was sent by the pilots, causing two F-16s to race at supersonic speeds to intercept and escort the aircraft to O’Hare International Airport. This caused a sonic boom in Chicago’s northwest suburbs, startling hundreds of thousands of people. [2]

He didn’t suffocate, but it sounds similar to your incident.

[toadspittle]

Thanks, Enalzi and Troutman. It sounds like I may have conflated the pre-9/11 and post-9/11 stories.

[billfish678]

@toadspittle

Thanks, Enalzi and Troutman. It sounds like I may have conflated the pre-9/11 and post-9/11 stories.

I think you have a few things that could get conflated.

You have the pre 9/11 suffocation.

You have the post 9/11 CSI episode.

And, IIRC you have ALSO have at least one post 9/11 crazy passenger-other passengers beat the crap out him incident but he lives (though I have no specific cite for that one/those).

[The_Great_Philosopher]

@BrotherCadfael

This was also the plot of an episode of CSI.

Ah, there you go. I thought I remembered the OP’s incident as well, but turns out it was this I was remembering!

[toadspittle]

@billfish678

You have the post 9/11 CSI episode.

Could be that, too. I’ve never watched CSI, but everyone else in the world seems to, so I could have heard via word of mouth.