A Qantas plane which had been flying for two hours en route from Perth, Australia to London, UK had to turn back when an “aggressive” passenger became highly disruptive.
The man was later arrested and could now face a compensation bill of tens of thousands of dollars should Qantas attempt to recover the cost of turning back the flight.
Passengers have spoken to local media of the man’s shocking behaviour on board the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on Saturday.
Clare Hudson was travelling with her husband and three-month-old baby. She told ABC News: “There was a gentleman who locked himself in one of the toilets for about an hour.”
“When he came out he started acting really aggressive and it looked like he was going to attack another one of the passengers.”
However, cabin crew managed to calm him down and get him seated. “He seemed really wired and agitated,” added Clare.
Another passenger, Christine Kohli, said that cabin crew had to ask passengers to help with placating the man.
She also praised the cabin crew for their handling of the alarming situation.
“I think the air crew were marvellous, they were very in control of the situation, they were calming passengers,” she told ABC.
“They were very, very supportive. They got him down to the back of the plane quite quickly. It was clear he was quite an unwell man.”
When the plane landed back at Perth Airport, Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers boarded the aircraft and escorted the man off.
The passenger – believed to be 32-years-old – has been slapped with an interim no-fly ban while the incident is being investigated, which means he cannot fly on any Qantas or Jetstar flights.
The flight was then rescheduled, as continuing would have pushed the crew over their duty limits.
Passengers were provided with overnight accommodation and left Perth about 18 hours after their initial departure time, landing at Heathrow at 10.30pm Sunday night.
A Qantas spokesman said: “We take a zero-tolerance approach to disruptive behaviour on board.
“The safety of our crew and customers is our number one priority.”
Express.co.uk has contacted Qantas for further comment on the incident.
Qantas’ direct flights between London and Perth launched in March of this year and take 17 hours to cover the 15,000km route.
Qantas now has plans to set up a direct flight between London and Sydney, Australia – a journey that would take 20 hours.
Ultra-long-haul flights are aimed primarily at business travellers and can allow airlines to charge a 20 per cent premium over one-stop rivals, according to industry data.
