‘Passenger from hell’ forces flight to turn back after ‘going loopy,’ banging on cockpit door: witnesses
A flight to vacation hotspot Bali was forced to turn back Monday after a “passenger from hell” banged on the cockpit door, spewed profanities and slapped another flyer’s glasses off his face, according to the airline and shocked witnesses.
Jetstar Flight JQ43 was less than two hours into its journey when it made the U-turn back to Melbourne, Australia, to get police help when “a passenger became disruptive,” the airline said in a statement.
Eyewitness footage shared with 9News Sydney shows a wild-eyed woman with short blond hair screaming into the face of a seated male passenger as others look on in shock.
“How about try and understand what the f–k is going on before you have a comment,” she yells.
Another woman comes up and tries to pull away the screaming passenger, but she shakes off her grasp, the footage shows.
“You do not understand any of this. Keep your f–king mouth shut,” the unruly flyer continues shouting.
A witness described the instigator of the mid-flight meltdown as “the passenger from hell,” reported news.com.au.
“[She was] verbally abusing everyone in her path! Even shoving a fellow passenger holding a baby,” the witness wrote on social media.
“So we were turned around three hours into the flight while she was restrained by passengers and crew in the back. All the poor little kids had to listen to this for five hours.”
Another passenger posted on Facebook that the woman “went loopy and banged on the cockpit door because she thought someone stole her phone.”
A traveler who identified herself as Emma told the radio station 3AW that the crazed woman was walking up and down the aisle and spitting at people.
She added that when a man made a comment to the disruptive passenger, “She got right up in his face and abused the absolute hell out of him and smashed his glasses off his face.”
When it became apparent that the woman could not be calmed down, the pilot announced that the flight would return to Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport.
Jetstar, an Australian budget airline, confirmed that the captain returned to Melbourne “to get assistance from the Australia Federal Police,” which is still investigating.
“We know this was a difficult experience for other customers and our team members, and we thank those who assisted with the situation,” the carrier stated.
It added that the flight was rescheduled for Tuesday morning local time because several crew members were unable to continue flying Monday.
Jetstar pledged to provide overnight accommodation for passengers and cover other “reasonable” expenses, including meals.
“The safety of our customers and crew is our priority,” the airline said.
