Richard Marx Criticizes Korean Air For Response To Unruly Passenger, Says They Should Be ‘Sanctioned’

Richard Marx, the singer known for a long string of hits like “Endless Summer Nights” and “Right Here Waiting,” has taken to social media to criticize Korean Air for their lack of a proper response to a volatile mid-air crisis that saw him helping to restrain an out-of-control passenger.

BBC News reports that the incident on Korean Air unfolded on Tuesday as Richard Marx and wife Daisy Fuentes, the former MTV VJ, were flying from Hanoi to Seoul on their return journey to Los Angeles after they had been vacationing in Vietnam. Richard Marx had also just played a show in Hanoi before heading home.

The ordeal with the unruly passenger on Korean Air lasted for four hours, and Richard Marx and Daisy Fuentes have documented the incident from start to finish on both Instagram and Twitter. Fuentes described how a man who was sitting in the next row away from them began acting oddly and then soon became violent.

Daisy relates how the passenger “got crazy and started attacking the flight attendants and passengers” and then began “pushing the female staff and pulling them by the hair.”

Remarking on Korean Air’s response, Fuentes was critical of their handling of the situation.

“They never fully got control of him. They didn’t know how to use the taser and they didn’t know how to secure the rope around him and he got loose from their rope restraints three times.”

Richard Marx was the first person to respond when the unruly passenger crisis reached a critical juncture. Daisy Fuentes relates how Marx was the first passenger who was able to subdue him and how badly she felt for the airline staff.

“I feel horrible for the abuse the staff had to endure, but no one was prepared for this.”

On Richard Marx’s Facebook account, he relates how the Korean Air flight crew was “completely ill-prepared and untrained” for the scene that had unfolded and continues with describing how long the event took while on board the airplane.

Korean Air 480 pic.twitter.com/tHaJ0oMxPq

— Richard Marx (@richardmarx) December 20, 2016

“Four hours of a psycho passenger attacking crew members and other passengers. Korean Air should be sanctioned for not knowing how to handle a situation like this without passenger interference.”

Korean Air defended their response to the situation by saying that they followed proper response protocol when they restrained the passenger with rope, while CNN reported that no mention was made of Richard Marx helping staff when they had to tie up the man numerous times.

When the staff was questioned as to why they did not use a taser, they explained that the passenger was frantically moving around and there were other passengers nearby. This would have made employing a taser possibly dangerous to those on the flight who were seated next to the man.

As soon as the plane landed at Incheon International Airport, Seoul police boarded it and removed the passenger. The 34-year-old man reportedly had drank more than two shots of liquor, and as he was too drunk to be questioned, the police released him, adding that they would question him later.

Richard Marx was heartened by the response he received from fans after the plane incident and left a final message on Twitter to assure everyone that he and his wife Daisy were fine after the ordeal had ended.

“Daisy and I are home safe and sound. No big ‘hero’ move at all. Just did what I would hope anyone would do in same situation. Tnx 4 concern.”

Do you think Korean Air could have done more to help avert the crisis that Richard Marx and others went through while flying?

[Featured Image by Robb D. Cohen/AP Images]