QANTAS passengers heap praise on pilot for turn-around
Passengers flying on a QANTAS non-stop flight from Perth to London have heaped praise a pilot’s decision to turn around just two hours into the 17 hour flight.
The Boeing 787-9 series Dreamliner took off from Perth on Saturday evening. But QF9 was forced to return to Perth just two hours into the flight to London. The disruptive passenger was reportedly handcuffed, masked, then removed by police.
A passenger, Christine Kohli, has told Australia’s ABC network that cabin crew had asked passengers for help to try to calm the man.
“They did ask for some assistance from some male passengers, and some passengers went and helped him. I understand he was restrained down the back of the plane.”
“They were very in control of the situation, they were calming passengers. They were very, very supportive. They got him down to the back of the plane quite quickly.”
“He locked himself in the loo (toilet) for about an hour,” she said. “Then when he came out, first of all we heard some shouting, we were about three or four rows in front of where it happened,” said Clare Hudson, another passenger.
Passengers report that it looked like it was going to turn into a brawl but eventually crew managed to calm him down and get him back in his seat.
“He seemed really wired and agitated. I think some of the passengers sitting near him would have been a bit frightened.”
QANTAS contacted us asking us to add the following notes to the story…
- This type of disruption inconveniences our customers, and we take a zero tolerance approach to disruptive behaviour on board.
- The safety of our crew and customers is our number one priority.
- The passenger has been issued with an interim ‘no fly ban’ which means they are unable to travel on Qantas Group flights until the investigation into the matter is completed.
SOURCE: news.com.au/QANTAS spokesperson
