Get you up to speed: Qantas Airways flight diverted to Tahiti after passenger bites crew member
A Qantas Airways flight from Melbourne to Dallas was forced to divert to Papeete in Tahiti due to an incident involving a drunken passenger who allegedly bit a flight attendant. The passenger became confrontational when denied permission to leave the cabin for a cigarette.
A Qantas Airways flight was diverted to Papeete in Tahiti due to an altercation with an angry passenger who allegedly bit a flight attendant. This incident highlights the growing concern of anti-social behaviour on flights, with drunken behaviour being a criminal offence in the UK, punishable by a maximum penalty of £5,000 and two years’ imprisonment.
Qantas Airways flight diverted to Papeete in Tahiti due to a drunken passenger who threatened cabin crew and allegedly bit a flight attendant. Anti-social behaviour on flights has become a growing concern for airlines, prompting calls for stricter alcohol regulations in airports.
Angry passenger ‘bites flight attendent’ forcing flight into emergency landing | News World
A plane was forced to land on a remote pacific island after a drunken manthreatened cabin crew onboard.
The angry passenger allegedly bit a flight attendant on a Qantas Airways flight between Melbourne and Dallas.
The route is one of the world’s longest scheduled services, at 15 hours flying time.
However the journey was even more prolonged tha usual on Friday, after the aircraft was forced to divert to Papeete in Tahiti, an island in French Polynesia.
Footage of the incident was uploaded by Australian comedian Mike Goldstein, who was travelling on the flight.
It showed the troublemaker wearing a green shirt, confronting cabin crew near a toilet.
Sign up for all of the latest stories
The angry passenger was heard shouting ‘F*** you’ after they refused his demands to allow him to walk out ‘for a ciggie’.
He was warned by the staff he would be restrained for the whole journey if he refused to behave.
The passenger was filmed having an altercation with cabin crew near a toilet on board a Qantas Airways flight to Dallas (Picture: Metrograb)
The man was told by a male flight attendant: ‘You’re carrying on like a bloody two-bob watch.’
A ‘two-bob watch’ is an Australian slang term for something cheap and unreliable.
However the clip did not show the alleged biting.
In a response to comments, Mr Goldstein added that the man became involved in brawl with a fellow traveller sitting in front of him after they reclined their seat.
Anti-social behaviour onboard flights has become an increasing headache for airlines, which face huge costs if their planes are diverted off course including extra fuel and compensating delayed passengers.
With alcohol a key factor in incidents, passengers are strictly prohibited from consuming their own booze on flights.
However, tipple is widely available in airports including at bars and executive lounges, which are not required to conform to usual restrictions on opening hours which apply to their high street counterparts.
Drunken behaviour on board planes is a criminal offence in the UK, carrying a maximum penalty of £5,000 and two years’ imprisonment.
Earlier this month, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary called for airports to be banned from serving alcohol to passengers before early morning flights.
His intervention was criticised by JD Wetherspoon’s boss Sir Tim Martin, who said a ban would be impossible to implement and an ‘overreaction’.
Comment now
Comments
Add WTX as a Preferred Source on Google