A Jetstar passenger was arrested at Melbourne Airport after breaking down a cabin door and jumping out of the plane.
The drama unfolded shortly after 10am on Thursday morning when flight JQ507 arrived from Sydney.
Jetstar confirmed to Yahoo News that the passenger exited the plane via an emergency exit.
“We can confirm that a passenger opened the emergency exit door after arriving in Melbourne, after which the slide automatically deployed,” a spokesman said.
The plane was at a gate at that time.
The reason for the man’s impulsive act is currently unclear, but photos show the man clinging to one of the plane’s engines before it landed on the tarmac. Ground staff managed to restrain the passenger before the Australian Federal Police intervened.
Ground staff have since been praised for their quick response to the incident. “Melbourne Airport is proud of the exceptional response of ground staff, which meant there was no immediate danger to other passengers or airport staff,” a Melbourne Airport spokesperson said.
Man ‘pushed’ people into plane, passenger claims
Sydney radio producer Audrey Varghese travelled by plane to Melbourne and said the man exhibited “strange behaviour” towards the end of the flight.
“He first stood up before the seatbelt sign went off, the plane was still moving, and tried to leave his seat row,” she told 3AW. Cabin crew repeatedly asked the man to sit down.
“As soon as the plane came to a stop, he immediately stood up and basically charged towards where the emergency exit row is. In the process, he pushed people, caused a little commotion, ripped open the emergency exit door, the slide deployed and he jumped out of the plane,” she said.
Varghese said she was “terrified” when “screams and screams” came from the cabin and feared the man might have had a gun. However, there is no evidence that this was the case.
According to Sky News presenter Kieran Gilbert, passengers on the plane asked the man to “please sit down,” but instead he opened the emergency door and slid down the slide.
Travelers at the airport filmed the scene from a distance, showing the man being arrested by police on the tarmac. “I think he just jumped down,” they noted in the video posted online. “I actually want to go on the slide too,” one fellow traveler can be heard joking.
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