Narrative:

I had been on second break for 1 hour when the 2 copilots awoke me. A few minutes later I was sitting in the center seat talking to the purser and then the dispatcher. The passenger in xxa had started being crazy and assaulted one of the flight attendants. The 3 of us discussed whether it was a threat level 2 or 3 and were unsure at first. We settled on condition 2. Discussions with dispatcher centered on best landing site ZZZZ1; ZZZZ2; and finally we decided ZZZZ was just as close with good weather. The flight attendants were told to cuff the out-of-control passenger and also to tie his legs with plastic cuffs. Since he was also out of control verbally; I suggested duct taping his mouth; though that ended up not being necessary. Nearby passengers were moved. We declared an emergency and got nearly direct clearance to ZZZZ. Dispatch coordinated our arrival; law enforcement; medical; fuel and cargo. We got an onboard physician to check the individual and ensure that there was nothing seriously wrong with the passenger. The flight attendant who was choked by the passenger was also ok. We landed without incident and the passenger was removed by authorities. Lessons learned: neither the flight attendant nor first officer flight manuals showed the new location of the security kit and handcuffs on the newly configured -400's. It took 10 minutes to find the cuffs. I requested that the dispatcher keep our satphone connection open so that as events evolved we could instantly make decisions -- worked great! I also finally got a flight attendant to stay on the interphone at the top of the stairs so that I could maintain a running account of events upstairs where the passenger was assigned. We were fortunate to have a doctor on board to make sure the passenger's health was not in jeopardy. Declaring an emergency and making a slight divert to ZZZZ turned out to be a good decision. Supplemental information from acn 819073: approximately 5 hours into flight in cruise with captain in bunk; aft purser called to notify us that there was an unruly passenger in seat xxa; the passenger had thrown mini liquor bottles around; was shouting and had grabbed the flight attendant after being cut off from alcohol. Other first officer and I broke out the fom and determined that this was a level 2 threat. Other first officer woke captain up while at the same time we received another call from the flight attendants letting us know that the passenger had grabbed him by the throat. At that point we locked down the cockpit and turned on the seatbelt sign; while concurrently notifying dispatch. Captain then contacted dispatch via satcom while also keeping a flight attendant on the line continuously. Pilot in the left seat stayed the pilot not flying and coordinated with ATC; while I ran the checklists and helped the captain with communications. Dispatch recommended ZZZZ1 or ZZZZ2 -- both about 1;150 miles away. Flight attendants called again stating passenger was still shouting; now throwing water; etc. And the captain made the decision with our concurrence that the passenger was to be handcuffed. He also had the flight attendants ask for a doctor to monitor the passenger while handcuffed. Passenger kept yelling and shouting and the decision was made to divert to ZZZZ due to the distance being equal to ZZZZ1 by this time; and the excellent facilities there as well. At this time we declared an emergency with ATC and received clearance to ZZZZ. Passenger remained unruly but no further significant disturbances occurred as 2 flight attendants were around him at all times. We landed at ZZZZ without incident and the appropriate authorities met the aircraft and escorted the passenger off. Dispatch had set up all services required and made our stop very efficient. The authorities in ZZZZ were very helpful and efficient as well. Crew coordination was excellent between flight deck members; the flight attendants; as well as dispatch.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B747 passenger became unruly attacking Cabin Attendants. The passenger was handcuffed and the flight diverted to an enroute oceanic destination.

Narrative: I had been on second break for 1 hour when the 2 copilots awoke me. A few minutes later I was sitting in the center seat talking to the Purser and then the Dispatcher. The passenger in XXA had started being crazy and assaulted one of the Flight Attendants. The 3 of us discussed whether it was a threat level 2 or 3 and were unsure at first. We settled on condition 2. Discussions with Dispatcher centered on best landing site ZZZZ1; ZZZZ2; and finally we decided ZZZZ was just as close with good weather. The Flight Attendants were told to cuff the out-of-control passenger and also to tie his legs with plastic cuffs. Since he was also out of control verbally; I suggested duct taping his mouth; though that ended up not being necessary. Nearby passengers were moved. We declared an emergency and got nearly direct clearance to ZZZZ. Dispatch coordinated our arrival; law enforcement; medical; fuel and cargo. We got an onboard physician to check the individual and ensure that there was nothing seriously wrong with the passenger. The Flight Attendant who was choked by the passenger was also OK. We landed without incident and the passenger was removed by authorities. Lessons learned: Neither the Flight Attendant nor First Officer flight manuals showed the new location of the security kit and handcuffs on the newly configured -400's. It took 10 minutes to find the cuffs. I requested that the Dispatcher keep our Satphone connection open so that as events evolved we could instantly make decisions -- worked great! I also finally got a Flight Attendant to stay on the interphone at the top of the stairs so that I could maintain a running account of events upstairs where the passenger was assigned. We were fortunate to have a doctor on board to make sure the passenger's health was not in jeopardy. Declaring an emergency and making a slight divert to ZZZZ turned out to be a good decision. Supplemental information from ACN 819073: Approximately 5 hours into flight in cruise with Captain in bunk; Aft Purser called to notify us that there was an unruly passenger in seat XXA; the passenger had thrown mini liquor bottles around; was shouting and had grabbed the Flight Attendant after being cut off from alcohol. Other First Officer and I broke out the FOM and determined that this was a level 2 threat. Other First Officer woke Captain up while at the same time we received another call from the Flight Attendants letting us know that the passenger had grabbed him by the throat. At that point we locked down the cockpit and turned on the seatbelt sign; while concurrently notifying Dispatch. Captain then contacted dispatch via Satcom while also keeping a Flight Attendant on the line continuously. Pilot in the left seat stayed the pilot not flying and coordinated with ATC; while I ran the checklists and helped the Captain with communications. Dispatch recommended ZZZZ1 or ZZZZ2 -- both about 1;150 miles away. Flight Attendants called again stating passenger was still shouting; now throwing water; etc. and the Captain made the decision with our concurrence that the passenger was to be handcuffed. He also had the Flight Attendants ask for a doctor to monitor the passenger while handcuffed. Passenger kept yelling and shouting and the decision was made to divert to ZZZZ due to the distance being equal to ZZZZ1 by this time; and the excellent facilities there as well. At this time we declared an emergency with ATC and received clearance to ZZZZ. Passenger remained unruly but no further significant disturbances occurred as 2 Flight Attendants were around him at all times. We landed at ZZZZ without incident and the appropriate authorities met the aircraft and escorted the passenger off. Dispatch had set up all services required and made our stop very efficient. The authorities in ZZZZ were very helpful and efficient as well. Crew coordination was excellent between flight deck members; the Flight Attendants; as well as dispatch.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.