A man was arrested at Melbourne Airport yesterday after opening the emergency door of a Jetstar plane and running out on the plane’s wing.
Jetstar flight JQ507 was already parked at the terminal gate, having landed after an about 90-minute flight from Sydney. The man, who had been acting strangely, illegally vaping and unsuccessfully requested alcohol throughout the flight, according to the other passengers, did not wait to deboard normally, but became “erratic” as soon as the plane touched ground.
After the plane parked, he got up from his seat and charged towards the emergency exit door, hitting some of the other passengers along the way. He opened the door, which automatically triggered a slide to inflate from the back of the wing to the ground. However, instead of sliding down to the ground, he chose to run down the wing, then climb down the engine of the Airbus A320 aircraft, which could have proven deadly had the blades not come to a complete stop, and made his way down the tarmac.
“When we actually pulled up to the gate he reached over to the emergency exit, pulled it. Everyone at that point was screaming at him telling him to stop”, one of the other passengers told Sky News Australia
Jetstar passenger arrested by federal police after opening the emergency exit upon arrival at Melbourne Airport.
— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) August 22, 2024
Jetstar flight JQ507, which departed Sydney, had arrived at a gate when the man opened the exit, sending the slide out the side of the plane.
The man was said to be… pic.twitter.com/6DKKZ0fJcH
“The man was exhibiting some quite strange behaviour. As soon as the plane had started coming to a stop, he immediately got up and basically charged to where the emergency exit row is, and in the process shoving people, causing a bit of commotion, (and) ripped open the emergency door”, Audrey Varghese, another passenger on board, told Melbourne Radio 3AW.
Once on the ground, he was intercepted by airport staff and immobilised before the Australian federal police (AFP) arrived at the scene. “Melbourne Airport is proud of the exceptional response from ground crew, which meant there was no immediate danger to other passengers or airport staff”, an airport spokesperson said.
“We can confirm that a passenger opened the emergency exit door after arrival into Melbourne, which automatically deployed the slide. The plane was parked at the gate at time. The passenger has been arrested by the AFP”, the airline confirmed in a statement.
The man was taken into custody by the police and placed under arrest for “alleged aggressive behaviour and breaching aircraft safety protocols”, the AFP said in a statement. He was checked by paramedics at the scene then taken to the hospital for further examination. “AFP is continuing to investigate this matter, and charges are likely to be laid at a future date”, police added.
