A Scoot flight from Australia’s Gold Coast to Singapore was forced to divert to Sydney Monday after a disruptive passenger caused chaos aboard the aircraft and had to be tied up.
Witnesses said the Boeing 787-9 was less than 20 minutes into the flight when the man became aggressive towards other passengers.
Video footage of an ensuring brawl shows passengers grappling with the man as they tried to restrain him.
The man’s shirt is ripped and he is eventually subdued by five passengers and crew members and tied down using cables. Staff attempt to give him oxygen to help calm him down.
The pilot decided to divert to Sydney about 80 minutes into the flight.
Seven News reported crew stopped serving the man alcohol before he started throwing punches and put one man in a headlock.
“He was actually going nuts,’’ one passenger said.
READ TUI passengers floored by lack of seats.
Scoot said the passenger had appeared normal during boarding and take-off.
“After take-off, he began to disturb surrounding passengers,” the airline said in a statement.
“Operating crew quickly moved them to other seats, in an attempt to defuse the situation. Crew were also instructed not to sell alcohol to him.
“A while later, the unruly passenger punched another passenger.
“Following safety procedure, our crew stepped in to break up the fight, and were assisted by other passengers.
“The unruly passenger was eventually subdued with two restraining kits, with the help of five passengers.
“A decision was made to return to Sydney where he was handed over to local law enforcement.
“Crew checked on the passenger who had been assaulted, and he confirmed he did not need medical attention.
“In Sydney, we were able to transfer the passengers to alternative flights bound for Singapore, on both Scoot’s flights as well as Singapore Airlines’ flights.”
Australian Federal Police and paramedics met the plane and the man was taken to hospital but no charges had been laid early Tuesday.
The AFP later confirmed the matter had been finalized and no charges would be laid.
The extent of the disrupition is seen on this video posted on Facebook by David Garilli.
https://www.facebook.com/ricodgarilli/videos/2453786568181856/?t=39
