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Jetstar passengers recall horror mid-air ordeal

Outburst onboard Jetstar flight

Source: Sunrise

Federal police are investigating a wild midair outburst on a Bali-bound Jetstar flight that led to the plane’s unscheduled return to Melbourne.

The plane took off for Denpasar at 10.30am on Monday, but turned back only two hours later, after an alleged angry outburst from a passenger.

Footage from Jetstar flight JQ43 shows the woman apparently screaming profanities at another passenger, while she towered over them. Fellow passengers and crew can be seen trying to calm the woman down, and she was eventually restrained.

On Tuesday, other passengers shared more details of the alarming mid-flight incident.

One woman, who gave her name only as Emma, told Melbourne’s 3AW that the unruly passenger “kind of stormed up the front, carried on a little bit”, and was heard arguing about a missing phone.

“How about try and understand what the f— is going on before you have a comment,” the woman apparently shouted.

“You do not understand any of this. Keep your f—ing mouth shut.”

Emma said it appeared the cabin crew “started to panic a little bit”. The pilot announced the plane was going to return to Melbourne, but that failed to stop the tirade, with the woman even banging on the cockpit door.

“An older man actually made a comment to her as she was passing through and she was right up in his face and abused the absolute hell out of him and smashed his glasses off his face,” Emma told the radio station.

“His poor wife was terrified.”

Another passenger, Kyle Hand told Seven’s Sunrise the woman was “abusing” a man he assumed was aged about 75 and was allegedly “threatening to assault” him.

“I am not sure what happened but she kept abusing a few more people down the back – they ended up restraining her,” Hand said.

Michelle Borchert told Nine’s Today show the angry passenger was “acting up” before boarding the flight.

“I’m very frustrated because we saw her acting up at the gate before she even got on,” Borchert told Today.

“She was punching into a wall and swearing and the staff really didn’t do anything about it at that point.”

In a statement to Nine, Jetstar said the woman had become “disruptive” shortly into the flight and, as a result, the captain decided to return to Melbourne.

The Australian Federal Police were called for assistance when the plane touched back down. They have also since confirmed they are investigating the midair incident.

“We know this was a difficult experience for other customers and our team members, and we thank those who assisted with the situation,” the spokesperson for Jetstar said.

Passengers were reportedly offered accommodation in Melbourne overnight before being put on a rescheduled flight on Tuesday.

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