Tussling, trying to open aircraft door: Jetstar deals with disruptive passengers on 2 flights


A Jetstar flight from Bali in Indonesia to Melbourne, Australia, was forced to turn around after a female passenger tried to open the door of the aircraft in the middle of the flight.

The incident happened on the evening of March 31, reported Australian news outlets.

Passengers onboard said the woman wanted to get off the flight in midair and the aircraft had to be turned back to Bali.

In response to queries from The Straits Times, a Jetstar spokeswoman said: “We had an aircraft return to Denpasar last night after a disruptive passenger attempted to open one of the aircraft doors and was abusive to our crew.”

The spokeswoman added that the safety and welfare of passengers and crew are the carrier’s priority.

“We thank them for the way they responded to the situation,” she said. “This sort of unacceptable behaviour will never be tolerated on our flights.”

According to flight-tracking website FlightAware, JQ34 departed Bali at 8.29pm on March 31, did a U-turn and later arrived back in Bali at 10.45pm.

The woman who created the disruption was later escorted off the plane by the police, reported Australian news channel Sky News.

In a separate incident, footage of a fight on a Jetstar flight from Melbourne to Bali emerged on the same day.

In the video, a man is seen turning to the row behind him and shouting at the passengers before another man who is sitting nearby goes up to confront him.

The duo gets physical and passengers, as well as the flight crew around them, can be seen trying to stop the tussle by separating the two men.