A disruptive passenger had to be restrained with duct tape by Fiji Airways crew after she started screaming only 30 minutes into the 11-hour flight from San Francisco to Nadi, a city on Fiji’s main island, on 20 January.
The 69-year-old Australian woman allegedly began hurling “racist and vulgar” remarks, throwing objects and threatening passengers and crew. According to eyewitness accounts, the altercation began when the woman, travelling separately from her husband, demanded to know his location after he requested to be seated elsewhere.
“The husband requested to be seated elsewhere when the woman started to raise her voice, and the altercation between the woman and crew started when the crew refused to tell the woman where he had been moved to,” another passenger told news.com.au.
Footage from the flight shows the woman screaming as flight attendants struggled to control her. Witnesses reported that she made overtly racist remarks towards Fijian crew members and even slapped the hands of one of the crew members that was trying to calm her down.
“The other passengers were particularly upset by her overtly racist comments towards the Fijian crew members, with many calling out to the woman to be quiet and behave,” the witness added. “Parents with children onboard were clearly upset with the excessive vulgar language and swearing with many seen blocking the ears of their children.”
NEW: Flight attendants tried to duct tape a woman who loudly abused them and her husband during an 11-hour flight
— Unlimited L's (@unlimited_ls) January 24, 2025
Fiji Airways flight FJ871 left San Francisco on January 18 and arrived in Fiji on Monday morning after crossing the International Date Line
The 69-year-old woman,… pic.twitter.com/8sq5uld1Ue
In the end, cabin crew managed to move the woman to the back of the plane and were “forced to resort to restraining and taping the mouth”, other passengers have explained. Even so, the unruly woman kept being disruptive throughout the entire flight. Towards the end of the flight, her husband joined her at the back of the plane, but he was also unable to calm her down.
The plane was met by local law enforcement in Fiji, who took the woman into custody. “She was intoxicated and causing nuisance to passengers,” Fiji police spokesperson, Sergeant Wame Bautolu, told news.com.au. “She has been charged on a count of Unruly passengers under the Fiji Civil Aviation Act and will be produced at the Nadi Magistrate Court tomorrow. She is under the custody of Immigration Officials.”
“We are co-operating with the relevant authorities, who are investigating an incident involving a passenger aboard flight FJ817 from San Francisco, which landed at Nadi International Airport on Jan. 20 2025, where it was met by law enforcement,” an airline spokesperson said. “At Fiji Airways, the safety of our passengers and crew is our highest priority, and we uphold a zero-tolerance policy for any threatening behaviour.”
Under the Fiji Civil Aviation Act, airlines can enforce stringent measures to address passenger misconduct. Crew members are authorised to take reasonable steps to prevent behaviour that disrupts flight operations, including restraining passengers if necessary, with unruly passengers facing large fines and even imprisonment depending on the gravity of the situation.
