United Airlines flight to Washington forced to turn back to Beijing after passenger clashes with flight attendant

A United Airlines flight bound for Washington was forced to return to its departure airport in Beijing after a passenger became involved in an altercation with a member of the cabin crew. Flight UA808 left Beijing Capital International at around 7pm Friday carrying 212 passengers, but it sent out an emergency code around 2 hours later. News reports suggested that the passenger in question had been involved in a dispute with someone sitting in a neighbouring seat and then turned on a flight attendant who tried to calm the situation. The flight log said the crew had issued an alert at threat level 2 – sent in cases of physically abusive behaviour – after attempts to alleviate the situation failed. According to The Beijing News, the incident began when 2 passengers became involved in an argument. <br/>