No arrest for rowdy passenger kicked off Jetstar flight

Jetstar says alcohol played a part in the incident at Dunedin Airport on Friday, the latest example of a rowdy passenger causing a flight disruption. Photo / Simon Baker

The man who was evicted from a Jet Star flight for unruly behaviour on Friday evening has not been arrested, police say.

Dunedin police communications manager Nic Barkley said the situation was not serious enough to warrant an arrest, but the man was given a warning from Dunedin airport police before being let go.

"We would only have arrested him if his behaviour warranted it."

The Civil Aviation Authority said police had taken charge of the incident and dealt with the passenger.

Mike Richards, spokesman for the CAA, said he heard the man had now returned home.
"I understand the passenger was very co-operative and took another flight the next day."

A CAA spokesman also said he could not immediately comment on how many people had been kicked off flights for bad behaviour in the last year, but said overall the numbers had dropped compared with previous years.

The unruly, obnoxious passenger delayed a Jetstar flight just as it was lining up for take-off to Auckland - and was then evicted from the aircraft on the captain's orders.

Jetstar says alcohol played a part in the incident at Dunedin Airport on Friday, the latest example of a rowdy passenger causing a flight disruption.

The man was on flight JQ284 which was about to leave for Auckland when the pilot returned to the terminal because of the commotion.

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"The captain elected to offload a disruptive passenger prior to take-off," a Jetstar spokesman said. "We do not tolerate any behaviour which disrupts other passengers or puts safety at risk on our aircraft."

A person who was on the plane said another man left the aircraft with the "verbose" passenger.

Jetstar customer Owen Mansill, who witnessed the disturbance, said one of the men who got off the plane was a solidly-built man.

"In the terminal before departure there was this guy who was with a couple of mates, and he wasn't swearing but he was quite verbose and everyone around him could hear him talking," he said.

However, he said it was when the plane was close to taking off that he realised something was up.

"We lined up on the end of the runway and, all of a sudden, the plane only moved forward slightly ... I thought either there had been a change of wind direction so we were moving to the other end of the runway or we were going back to the terminal," Mr Mansill said.

But then the captain told passengers the plane would return to the terminal as a passenger had to leave the aircraft, he said.

"There was a bit of a silence when we got back to the terminal, then eventually this guy was escorted off the plane by cabin crew. The pilot then came out ... and that's when another guy walked off the plane."

Mr Mansill said another passenger claimed one of the men was swearing and causing a scene.

"I spoke to someone next to me who said, 'before you got on, the big guy had been swearing quite a lot and quite loudly and creating a bit of a scene'. Nothing more was said after that," he said.

But A fellow passenger of the man escorted off the flight said he appeared only "tipsy," not rowdy.

Martin Fey was standing next to the man in the line to board the Dunedin to Auckland flight, he described the man as a "big boy" who was "quite pleasant" to talk to.

"We had a bit of a laugh and got on the plane, I thought he seemed alright."

Mr Fey said although he did not see the alleged behaviour, he was surprised at the way the incident had been described.

"The description of 'rowdy', 'commotion' and disruption was not obvious from ten rows away."

Mr Fey said the man "left in silence" when he was escorted off the flight.

"They've overplayed the rowdy aspect of it I think."

The man told Mr Fey he was tipsy and was swaying a bit in the boarding line, but Mr Fey said he didn't see anything else to indicate the man was causing trouble.

Reports in February quoted New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority statistics that showed, on average, just over one person a month was now being offloaded from planes for offensive behaviour. Alcohol was almost always involved.

The Chicago Daily Herald reported this month that "air rage" incidents were on the rise internationally. It cited overcrowding and intrusive security searches as possible triggers.

Jetstar said the passenger and his associate were "offloaded" at the terminal and the abusive man banned from flying with Jetstar or Qantas for 24 hours. If he tried to fly after the ban expired, he would be assessed before being allowed to board.

Jetstar said apart from a delay, the incident did not have a major impact on its operations. According to the FlightAware site, the plane left at 4.58pm, about 28 minutes late.

Aviation commentator Peter Clark said the incident would have possibly cost Jetstar because of the extra fuel used on the runway.

He said the 24-hour ban suggested the man wasn't deemed a security threat. "He probably still holds an active ticket. If they've only delayed him for 24 hours and he sobers up and turns up, they will probably just carry him."

The Civil Aviation Authority said it expected to learn more about Friday's incident this week.