Frightening mid-flight brawl on Jetstar flight turns plane around
Frightened passengers on a Jetstar flight were "incredibly unnerved" when a brawl erupted mid-air after one man started kicking another's seat.
About 20 minutes into the 10pm Melbourne to Brisbane flight on Tuesday, punches started being thrown between the two men, with one shown to be overpowering the other, Nine News reported.
"There was a commotion, there was yelling, people started standing up," a passenger told the network.
Some passengers were seen cowering in fear, while others including Jetstar staff tried to intervene and pull the two men apart.
The fight reportedly lasted a few minutes and ended in one of the men, who "had blood on his face", being escorted to the back of the plane, witnesses said.
Plane returns to Melbourne after fight
Due to concern for the crew and passengers involved, the pilot was forced to make a priority landing back at Melbourne Airport, where "Australian Federal Police met the aircraft" and the "two passengers were removed from the flight," a spokesperson for Jetstar told Yahoo News Australia.
"We have zero tolerance for disruptive and abusive behaviour," she said.
The sudden descending of the plane for a return to Melbourne frightened some passengers.
"Where are we going to land? How are we going to come down?" one passenger said she was wondering.
She told Nine News the ugly incident was "incredibly unnerving".
"By this point I'm clutching onto my son (thinking) he’s 28 years old and he’s going to die. This is not fair."
According to a passenger, one of the men in the fight was "aggressive" before he got on the flight, suggesting the brawl could've been avoided if Jetstar didn't allow him onto the plane in the first place, Nine News reported.
Once the Jetstar crew checked on the passengers in Melbourne Airport, the flight recommenced its journey to Brisbane, landing approximately two hours after its originally scheduled time.
"After checking on the welfare of remaining passengers and crew on board, the flight resumed," a Jetstar spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia.
"The safety of our passengers and our crew is always our first priority and we thank our customers for their patience."
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