A former martial arts student used his jiu-jitsu skills to safely neutralize a dangerous situation aboard a flight to Colombia.
Leon Jimenez, who was traveling to Colombia for retirement, found himself in an unexpected situation when a fellow passenger suffered a severe panic attack and attempted to open both the cockpit door and the main exit during the flight.
“The crew members were small and older, and they couldn’t control him,” Jimenez explained. “Nobody else on the plane even got up to help.”
When verbal de-escalation attempts failed, Jimenez knew he needed to act. Drawing from his training at TNT MMA under instructor Scott Tannenbaum, he assessed the situation and made a critical decision.
“I used sign language behind his back to ask if it was okay to put him to sleep, and they said yes,” Jimenez recounted. “That’s when I snuck up behind him and applied a rear naked choke until he fell.”
The rear naked choke, a fundamental technique in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, temporarily restricts blood flow to the brain, causing momentary unconsciousness without permanent harm when properly executed. After the individual lost consciousness, Jimenez helped place him in a nearby seat where crew members secured him.
Despite being what he describes as an “old guy white belt,” Jimenez credits his coach’s training for making the intervention “surprisingly quick” and effective. “With Coach Scott’s training, it worked exactly as it should,” he said.
Tannenbaum, the owner of TNT BJJ based in Phoenix, is described by Jimenez as “just an incredibly accomplished” instructor who “treats it like an art form that it is.”
The video has sparked discussion in martial arts communities about the practical applications of jiu-jitsu training in real-world scenarios. One commenter noted that Jimenez had “lived the daydream fantasy of every middle-aged BJJ guy in existence.”
Federal air marshals and security experts have praised the intervention, noting that controlling a person safely without causing injury is preferable to other forms of restraint in confined spaces like aircraft.
For Jimenez, the incident wasn’t about heroics. “It was just about making sure everyone stayed safe,” he said, embodying the responsible application of martial arts training that emphasizes minimal force to achieve maximum safety.
The aircraft continued to its destination without further incident, and no injuries were reported.
