Summary
- A Jetstar flight from Sydney to Melbourne was abandoned on account of a male passenger acting erratically and arguing concerning the Israel-Palestine conflict.
- The disruptive passenger had been acting strangely and caused concern among the many crew, resulting in a return to the gate and involvement of the Australian Federal Police.
- The incident caused upset amongst passengers, with some deciding to not travel, and all passengers were eventually taken off the aircraft for unspecified operational reasons.
This morning, a Jetstar flight from Sydney to Melbourne was abandoned after a male passenger acted erratically and have become involved in an argument concerning the Israel-Palestine conflict. The flight was preparing for take-off when the crew became concerned, and the aircraft returned to the gate.
An upsetting incident on the A320
The flight was scheduled to depart Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) at 06:00 for the one-hour shuttle all the way down to Melbourne. Flight JQ501 was eventually operated with an Airbus A320-200, registration VH-XNP and MSN 05708, that departed Sydney at 09:49, without the offending passenger, and landed uneventfully at Melbourne Airport (MEL) at 10:56.
Photo: Jetstar
Melbourne radio station 3AW reported that the pair were “ranting and yelling concerning the situation within the Middle East.” It’s value taking into account this can be a 06:00 flight on a routine service to Melbourne, so it just isn’t really a spot where numerous conflict normally happens, and most passengers just need to get within the air and on their way.
Some rattled passengers left within the wake
Scherri Simpson was a passenger on the flight, and on TV she told Channel 9’s Today Show:
“I used to be quite concerned, you do not expect this on a domestic flight in Australia. I travel quite quite a bit. It’s kind of scary – 9/11 just pops into your head immediately once you see passengers disembarking and things being not normal.”
The Federal Law enforcement officials spoke with the passenger (the one who caused the incident) onboard, and it’s believed they were completely satisfied for him to remain on the aircraft and for the plane to take off, however the man declined the offer and decided to depart the aircraft.
Photo: Jetstar
Scherri Simpson said the disruption caused a “domino effect” and that other passengers were upset after the verbal stoush referencing the Israel-Palestine conflict aboard the aircraft. An unnamed passenger told a Sydney radio station 2GB:
“Because they were talking concerning the war it made us all very nervous.”
In line with the report, some passengers decided to not travel, after which all passengers were taken off the aircraft for unspecified operational reasons and “no arrests have been made.” This has all happened in recent hours, in order that last bit may change, and we’re sure Jetstar just isn’t impressed with the disruption and costs of the incident.
If anything newsworthy happens as a consequence we are going to update this text accordingly.