Summary
- A passenger on a Qantas flight from Bali to Melbourne caused chaos mid-flight, shouting and allegedly threatening staff.
- Passengers and crew restrained the 28-year-old man for 4 hours until the flight landed in Melbourne.
- Qantas prioritizes customer and crew safety and has zero tolerance for disruptive or threatening behavior.
On a routine flight between the tourist hotspot of Bali and Melbourne, a passenger suddenly jumped up and ‘went crazy,’ in keeping with other passengers. Qantas flight QF46 was operating one in all its six weekly services between Denpasar and Melbourne on Saturday, December thirty first when the passenger began behaving erratically in mid-flight.
Passengers and crew stepped in to restrain the person, who was recorded as shouting and alleged to have threatened an air hostess. The 28-year-old individual was then questioned by the Australian Federal Police and referred for a medical assessment once the flight touched down in Victoria.
A passengers account
Norman Pires De Silva, a passenger who was traveling with this family, was onboard the flight, recalled the event to the Sydney Morning Herald, stating:
“Everybody was just resting and unexpectedly, this guy jumped out and he began screaming and everybody was panicking. Three or 4 passengers were taking him down and keeping him on the ground and that happened throughout all of the flight until we touched down in Melbourne. It was pretty scary, to be honest.”
Often departing at 22:05, on Saturday, December thirtieth, the flight was pushed back at 22:30, flying in a southeast direction at its cruising altitude of 35,000ft. The aircraft arrived in Melbourne at 06:47 on Sunday, the thirty first, seven minutes behind its expected arrival time. The incident didn’t appear to cause any knock-on effects on the next flight, with the aircraft operating as QF769 to Perth, Western Australia, at 09:42, only 12 minutes behind schedule.
The aircraft during which the incident took place, in keeping with Airfleets, known as Coonawarra, a Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft with registration VH-XZM (serial number 44574). The 9.4-year-old Boeing was first delivered to Qantas on August 4th, 2014, and is powered by two CFMI CFM56-7B26 engines.