"Drunk" passenger behind Virgin Australia hijack scare

"Drunk" passenger behind Virgin Australia hijack scare
By admin


Reports of an attempted hijacking aboard a Virgin Australia flight to Bali on Friday were the result of a “miscommunication”, the airline has confirmed.

The Brisbane-Denpasar Boeing 737-800 service was boarded by Indonesian troops upon landing amid fears of a hijacking following a distress signal sent by the pilot to port authorities.

However, Virgin swiftly corrected the reports. It revealed the passenger, handcuffed by crew after acting aggressively, had in fact been drunk.

"This is no hijacking, this is a miscommunication," the BBC reported Virgin Australia official Heru Sudjatmiko as saying.

"There was a drunk passenger, intoxicated and aggressively behaved. He was trying to enter the cockpit, banging the door but he did not enter the cockpit."

Police arrested the man, named as 28-year old Australian Matt Lockley, shortly after the plane landed with all of the passengers unharmed.

An official statement from the airline said: “There are incorrect reports that a Virgin Australia aircraft was hijacked on route to Denpasar – this is not correct. The aircraft in question has landed safely and at no point was the safety of our passengers ever in question.

"There was a disruptive passenger on board and the pilot notified authorities in advance of landing, as per standard operating procedures. The passenger was unarmed and is now in the custody of the Indonesian authorities."

The airport closed briefly following the incident, however flights resumed shortly after.

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