A badly behaved airline passenger has been arrested at a major Australian airport. 9News.au He allegedly climbed onto the wing of the plane after opening the emergency exit door.
The 90-minute Jetstar flight JQ507 from Sydney to Melbourne arrived at its destination on Thursday morning without incident. However, as soon as the plane landed, a passenger opened the emergency exit door on the right side of the plane and exited the plane in an unusual manner. Opening the door automatically opened the emergency latch at the rear of the plane, while the unidentified man walked up the wing of the Airbus A320 and climbed into one of its engines.
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“The guy was behaving quite strangely,” passenger Audrey Varghese told Radio Melbourne. Tom Elliott of 3AW Mornings (via 9NewsVarghese said the man was behaving “erratically”, causing some passengers to panic and scream before he ran inside through the emergency exit.
A passenger named Madison said: 9News She said the man was moving throughout the flight. “He was getting up and down. He was constantly asking the staff for alcohol,” she said. “He was also smoking vapes.”
“As soon as the plane started to stall, he immediately got up and charged towards the emergency exit row, pushing people along the way, creating some commotion and opening the emergency exit door,” the witness explained.
“At first I was really shocked,” Varghese admitted. “My friend and I were talking at the time and then we froze when we heard someone screaming. We were quite scared.”
Jetstar employees alerted the Australian Federal Police to the man's behaviour and officers arrested him for “alleged aggressive behaviour and breaches of aircraft safety protocols”. Another eyewitness told reporters that the man tried to resist officers as he was being arrested.
He was yelling, trying to fight [the officers] holding it [and] He was yelling, 'Hit me, hit me!' And then [saying]“You hurt me,” the unidentified woman recalled.
The footage shows the man shouting down the side of the plane's wing. Moments later, officers corner him on the runway as he shouts and points at someone off-camera.
“Everyone had a window view seat,” Madison said. “Great in-flight entertainment from Jetstar.”
9News All passengers reportedly got off the plane safely without injury, but “their luggage was left waiting for hours.” The man was taken to a local hospital for evaluation and remained there Thursday afternoon. Authorities are still investigating the incident and say charges are likely to be filed at a later date.