News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A Delta Air Lines flight attendant smashed two bottles of wine over a passenger's head as he tried to force a plane door open during a mid-air brawl.

Joseph Daniel Hudek IV was arrested on Thursday after the China-bound flight was forced to return to Seattle two hours after takeoff.

The 23-year-old is charged with instigating the fight on board the Boeing 767-300 which saw cabin crew and other passengers desperately battle to restrain him.

According to an FBI affidavit, the incident began when Hudek, a first class passenger, lunged for an exit door at the front of the plane, grabbed the handle and tried to open it.

(Image: Police)

In the course of the scuffle that followed, Hudek repeatedly punched a flight attendant and a fellow passenger, and persisted in trying to pull open the door.

A second flight attendant struck him over the head with two large wine bottles in a bid to subdue him. Both flight attendants were women.

Hudek was finally restrained with zip ties as several passengers joined the fray, but not before he managed to pull the door lever halfway to the open position, the FBI said.

The affidavit made no mention of what might have precipitated the melee.

(Image: Washington U.S. Attorney's Office)

According to the FBI, Hudek had been served a beer but showed no sign of intoxication.

At one point during the scuffle, it said, he shouted, "Do you know who I am?"

The flight, with 221 people aboard, landed safely at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and the two individuals punched during the struggle were treated for facial injuries.

(Image: Kiro 7)

Hudek appeared before a US district court in Seattle on Friday charged with one count of interfering with a flight crew, an offence punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

He was ordered to remain in federal custody without bail pending a July 13 detention hearing, according to Emily Langlie, a spokeswoman for the US Attorney's Office in Seattle.

The incident came weeks after a similar incident aboard an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu, in which a Turkish passenger tried to force his way toward the plane's cockpit, triggering a bomb scare that prompted the US military to scramble fighter jets to escort the plane to its landing.