Sumo Wrestlers' Flight Grounded Over Takedown Fears

Image: Buddhika Weerasinghe (Getty Images)

Japan Airlines was forced to arrange separate flights to split up a group of sumo wrestlers over concerns that their puddle jumper plane would be overloaded. The group was en route to a competition on the small southern Japanese island of Amami Oshima, leaving from Haneda Airport in Tokyo and Itami Airport in Osaka, taking a pair of Boeing 737-800s on the same day. The airline determined that the small island airport couldn’t handle a larger plane, so it booked a second plane for the wrestlers.

Matthew Gray Gubler And His Toyota 4Runner | My First Car

Fourteen of the passengers were shuttled from Osaka to Toky0, and a total of 27 passengers made the JAL flight in time for the competition. The 737-800 is a stretched version of the 737-700, and can hold as many as 189 passengers per flight. A spokesperson for the airline said it is “extremely rare for us to operate special flights.” A second special flight was added for the return flight from the competition.

According to local reports, the average passenger weighs around 154 pounds, while these sumo gentlemen averaged around 260 pounds. It seems to me that Japan Airlines would have a difficult time with a flight full of American tourists. I tip the scales above that, though partially because I’m over six feet and have thick thighs. I don’t think I could compete on the same level as these guys (but I might give it a try if pressed).

The competition, which began on Friday, invited some 460 sumo wrestlers to compete. I assume that many other wrestlers were stratified among several other flights through the week and didn’t cause an issue like this one. It’s probably for the best that the airline chose to operate with fewer passengers onboard. That would at least lower the likelihood that you were stuck in a middle seat between a pair of armrest-hogging competitors.