A domestic Virgin Australia flight had to turn around not long after takeoff, as one of the male passengers onboard somewhere and somehow removed all his clothes and started running naked down the aisle.
Flight VA696 was supposed to take about three and a half hours from Perth to Melbourne, crossing southern Australia from west to east on Monday evening. About one hour into the flight however, a naked man started running down the aisle, alarming the rest of the passengers.
“All of a sudden I hear this running up the aisle and the guy’s got no clothes on and he’s just charging towards the front of the plane”, one of the other passengers, named only by Sterling, told the Guardian Australia. “Initially you think, God forbid, it could be an attack. It’s really distressing being on a plane in that situation.”
He suddenly went bananas running up and down the aisle and bashing on the cockpit door.
Passenger on flight VA696
A man has been arrested by air marshals after allegedly running naked down the aisle of a Virgin Australia flight from Perth to Melbourne. 7NEWS Adelaide at 6pm | https://t.co/Rz0F3KbLNs #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/QBJktgRSi1
— 7NEWS Adelaide (@7NewsAdelaide) May 28, 2024
Sterling explained that the sight of someone charging towards the cockpit was very alarming for everyone onboard, with “a lot of yelling and screaming” throughout the incident. Finally, “one good Samaritan, this big guy in business class, jumped up straight away to intervene and then these two other guys later got up and tackled him to the ground.”
“We can confirm on Monday, 27 May, VA696 Perth to Melbourne, returned to Perth due to a disruptive passenger on board”, Virgin said in a statement. “On arrival in Perth, the aircraft was met by the Australian Federal Police and the disruptive guest was offloaded. The safety of our guests and crew is our top priority, and we sincerely apologise to guests impacted.”
Federal police took the man into custody upon landing back at Perth. He was taken to the hospital for assessment and will be trialled on 14 June, with the exact charges yet to be confirmed.
An analysis on unruly passengers conducted by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and released last summer shows that the number of incidents involving disruptive passengers has increased post-pandemic. The study compares 2022 to 2021 figures and shows that there were 61% more reports in 2022 than during the previous year.
Although non-compliance incidents initially fell after the mask mandates were removed on most flights, the frequency began to rise again throughout 2022. The most common examples of in-flight non-compliance were found to be smoking of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, vapes and puff devices in the cabin or lavatories, failure to fasten seatbelts when instructed, exceeding the carry-on baggage allowance or failing to store baggage when required and the consumption of own alcohol on board.
