A Jetstar passenger has recalled the terrifying moment a male passenger “threatened” an air hostess, forcing the plane to turn around and land back in Brisbane.
They had been travelling home from Brisbane to Perth on flight JQ964 with her two young children on Tuesday evening when the incident unfolded.
They said a man in his 30s was moved to the back of the plane after being “loud and vocal” and “harassing some of the women”.
“An air hostess mentioned that he had been threatening … we don’t know exactly what he was saying, but the air hostess was speaking to a passenger in front of us and she was quite distressed and upset,” she told The West.
They said she had spoken to other passengers who recalled seeing the man following one of the flight attendants down the aisle of the plane.
“(They said) there’s this guy and he is walking up and down the aisle … he followed the air hostess at one stage, walking up and down with her,” she said.
“He’d walk up and just give evil eyes to the people who were seated.
“I tried not to look back to see what was happening, but the air hostess did come past at one stage … and she looked pretty teary and upset, meanwhile, the guy was literally standing behind her.
“The poor air hostess was going up and down (the plane) and she was young and he was trailing her the whole way,” she said.
They said she could smell alcohol and believed he was intoxicated.
“Another passenger also got into an altercation with him and was trying to settle him down but he wasn’t listening to him either,” she said.
They said they had been flying for about four hours before the flight attendant “discreetly” came past and asked the passengers to prepare for landing.
“None of us knew we were going back to Brisbane Airport … I thought we were landing in Coober Pedy and in my mind I was going ‘what’s happening, what’s happening?’” she said.
“It was a few hours of some full freak-out moments.”
The plane was turned around and landed safely at Brisbane Airport about 11.30pm on Wednesday night.
Once the plane landed, they said the passenger was escorted away by police officers.
The rest of the passengers were put up in a hotel and were redeployed on a “rescue” flight on Wednesday morning.
“I have to give credit to Jetstar … they were really good at getting us straight off the plane and sorting accommodation, buses and a new rescue flight,” they said.
Passengers were provided overnight accommodation and departed the following morning.
A Jetstar spokesman thanked customers’ for their understanding while crew managed the disruptive behaviour.
“We really appreciate customers’ understanding and patience while our crew managed the situation in the air, and once back in Brisbane, worked to get them on their way again,” he said.
“We will never tolerate disruptive behaviour on our aircraft as safety is our number one priority.”
The Australian Federal Police have been contacted for comment.