FBC – 119 – How I got assaulted in the plane

How I got assaulted in the plane.

Crazy story. Didn't have internet to post this episode and now I do. The intrigue is like a hollywood blockbuster.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://anchor.fm/freedom-by-choice/support

So here's what happened.This is  a true story.

So I got assaulted on the plane by some random dude who was causing havoc. So I was sitting in my seat. And there was this guy behind me playing loud music on a speaker. So you know how that works. When someone is being obnoxious, most people don't say anything. And these people usually get away with it.

And me, I just found it really annoying and disrespectful for the rest of the flight because that was actually a night flight. Some people actually wanted to sleep. There was bad music, man. It's just really bad music. So I turn around and ask the guy, but ask him very nicely.

I'm like, well, sorry, bro, you know, do you have some headphones? You know, if you could please listen to that on headphones, it will be of great service that people are trying to sleep, you know? So the guy starts shouting at me like, wow, well, I'm not going to stop my music just because one person's not happy about it. I want to enjoy my life as well.

And I'm like, dude, you can enjoy your life with headphones. Right. So can you please put on some headphones? So, you know, he starts yelling at me and stuff. And, you know, the last thing I want to do is to have an argument with some dude who's, you know, intoxicated. Clearly, you know. So the dude was drunk or whatever. So what I did is I just called the flight attendant and I was like, well, can you please ask this guy to stop his music? Right.

How I got assaulted in the plane.

So, you know, once I did this, I just put my own headphones on, because I was watching a training. And, you know, I just resume my life, you know? That was the end of the incident for me. So basically, the flight attendant is trying to get this guy to stop his music. And the dude, it's like, no, I am not stopping my music just because one person is not happy. Nobody complains about it. And all that stuff.

So the flight attendant is like, well, who else was bothered by the music? A bunch of people, you know, raise their hand finally saying, oh, yes, it bothers me. I'm like, dude, you could have said that before. Right. And, you know, after 20 minutes, you know, this guy finally decides to stop his music.

So, at that point, for me, it’s the end of the story. And then what happened was that the dude starts telling the flight attendant that my computer is bothering him and it's a blinding him. So the dude is going to turn blind because of my screen that he can't even see. The seat is in between. He can't even see it. So the crew asked me, can you please move so that this guy will keep quiet and stuff? And I'm like, no, I'm not moving. It’s completely unreasonable.

So after a few minutes, I get a knock. Somebody’s hitting me on the back of the head. All right. So this guy was sitting right behind me hitting the back of the head. So I turned around. So there are two guys behind me. I'm like, well, you'd better stop this, right? I'm not going to align with this behaviour. So please stop it. Just. I mean, we're not five or something. You know, just. Just stop the bullshit.

So I resume what I was doing and then I get another hit and back on the back in my head. Right. So me, I'm a very peaceful guy. I don't want to you know, I don't fight people even if there is a very good reason to fight people, but especially some loser who was intoxicated and stuff. There is nothing for me to gain there.

So what I did is I called the flight attendants. They pull me out to the back of the plane. Right. So when I get up, this guy was sitting in the middle seat. So he extended his leg through to trip me, which the flight attendants saw as well. So I get in the back and they're like, wow. Okay. So here's the thing. We already saw that before and the pilot actually came out of the cockpit to deal with the situation and everything.

So I said, you know what? For everybody's sake, I'm just going to move. So they moved me to the front of the plane. I'm just sitting there just resuming my life. Like for me, the incident is over, right. So the dude pretends to go to the toilet and comes past and hits me back on the head like, but he had to reach from the aisle. He had to reach all the way to the window to hit me back in the head. So flight attendants, they saw it as well.

I was like, you know what? You're going to pay for this. You know, but it's not going to be violence. I don't like violence. But, you know, you maybe you don't know it, but security is waiting for you. So I didn't say anything. I notified the crew, that the guy hit me again, so they give me a form that I had to fill. I filled the form. And so it is.

So here's the thing. So, you know, when you're a tourist and you know that this person doesn't know the country. They don't know the police procedure. They didn't know who to complain to. They don't have the time to go and spend the whole night at the police office pressing charges against you.

So you're basically saying that you can do whatever you want. And you're just going to get away with it, because people don't know. Right. So that was the dude's assumption. He was like, well, I can do anything with this guy. And, you know, he won't do anything. But he clearly messed with the wrong guy because, you know, as you know, I'm driven.

I was determined to have this guy pay so that this won't happen to anybody else. You know, going to a foreign country. So, we land finally in Sri Lanka and the police are waiting for the guy. They apprehend the guy. And when he was leaving the plane, he tries to hit me again in front of officers, so I couldn’t disembark the plane.

We were waiting for the actual police to show up and they asked do you want to press charges? I said, yes. You bring the cops here. I don't care if I have to come back here 50 times to get this guy to pay. I will press charges and I will follow up on that. So eventually the cops came and, before they were going to leave for the transfer to the police station, the guy hits me again. He kicks me again.

The cops asked me, so if you want to press charges against the guy, there'll be a procedure and you will go in front of the judge and everything. But you might have to come back. Are you ready to come back? If that happen, I'm dead serious, man. I am going to come back as many times as necessary. I want this guy to be prosecuted. These types of people are the ones that are ruining the country's reputation.

So the guy went to jail. They’re going to blacklist the guy as well. And they witnessed everything that happened. They witnessed me being very calm and not responding to these attacks or anything. And so the guy spent the night in jail. The next morning, he went to see some sort of like judge or something, you know, for a preliminary or whatever. And the next day, next afternoon, he was going to the actual judge to plead his case to say if he was guilty or not guilty.

So I'm a man of principle. So I might actually have to come back here and I will come back here and I will make sure that this idiot pays so that people are not tempted to do this in the future.

About the Author

Martin Ebongue is the founder of martinebongue.com, an online business and lifestyle design blog focused on helping aspiring entrepreneurs build location-independent businesses. Since 2014, he has been creating and scaling online ventures across multiple niches, from digital products and affiliate marketing to SaaS and content platforms, while traveling the world. He shares the real-world strategies, tools, and systems that work, with a particular focus on AI-powered automation for solopreneurs. Follow him on YouTube, X (Twitter), and Instagram.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should you do immediately if you witness violence on a plane?

Press the call button, alert cabin crew calmly, and avoid intervening physically unless someone is in immediate danger. Crew are trained for restraint and the cockpit has direct lines to ground authorities. Document timestamps and seat numbers as soon as you safely can.

How do you stay calm when a stranger turns aggressive in transit?

Lower your voice, keep your hands visible, and create physical distance without sudden movement. De-escalation outperforms confrontation in 90 percent of incidents because aggressive people are looking for a reaction. The goal is to buy time until trained staff or authorities arrive.

What are your rights after being assaulted during a flight?

You can file a report with the airline crew, with airport police on arrival, and with the embassy if the incident crossed borders. Keep your boarding pass, take photos of any visible injuries, and request the incident report number in writing before you leave the airport.

Why is mental rehearsal important for solo travelers?

Running through three or four crisis scenarios before a trip lowers panic response when something actually happens. Pilots, surgeons, and firefighters all use mental rehearsal because the brain treats rehearsed responses as known territory and defaults to them under stress.

Related Reading

• FBC – 4 Part 1 – This is the story of my life: Success, Failure and The Hurdles.
• FBC – 3 – Escape your life of sacrifice! Don’t settle for less than your dream lifestyle.
• FBC – 8 – The Weirdest Challenge To Boost Your Confidence
• Other really cool tips that will give you an unfair advantage

Further reading

• Freedom by Choice Podcast: background interviews and freedom-business case studies on the Freedom by Choice Podcast.
• Martin's Substack: long-form essays on building a business that runs without you on Martin's Substack.
• HubSpot Blog: sales and marketing benchmarks on the HubSpot Blog.
• Harvard Business Review: research on solo and founder-led operations from Harvard Business Review.