Images emerge of Michael Slater after 'heated' incident on plane
Images have emerged of Michael Slater on the tarmac at Sydney Airport after he was kicked off a flight on Sunday.
The Australian cricket great was removed from a flight from Sydney to Wagga after a ‘heated argument’ with two female friends.
The former Test star and current commentator for Channel 7 was removed from a Qantas regional flight on Sunday afternoon before it was due to depart.
“I did have an argument with two friends while boarding a flight to Wagga and I apologise for the inconvenience this caused other passengers on the flight,” Slater confirmed on Monday after the news broke.
The Daily Mail has since published photos of Slater talking to airport staff outside the plane.
Australian cricket star Michael Slater is booted from a Qantas flight 'after getting into a screaming row with two female friends - and locking himself in the plane's toilet' https://t.co/r1xoa2hrKh pic.twitter.com/1qsdCOj5DN
— Daniel Piotrowski (@drpiotrowski) May 21, 2019
Macquarie Radio’s Nick Fergus told Ray Hadley on Tuesday the argument was extremely heated.
“He’s been involved in an extremely heated argument — this has been described as not a run of the mill argument — it was yelling, it was swearing and it was only getting worse as they moved to their seats,” Fergus said.
“What we’re told by witnesses is Michael removed himself from the situation and went to the bathrooms of the plane.
“As they were doing the safety briefings he remained in the bathroom. Crews repeatedly asked him to come out and he refused.
“At that point the plane couldn’t take off and it was being delayed further and further and crew were forced to call airport security who boarded the plane.”
The flight was reportedly delayed by up to 30 minutes as security removed Slater.
He has denied the claim he locked himself in the bathroom.
Qantas also confirmed the incident, saying “a male passenger was asked to leave the aircraft for being disruptive. He complied with the crew’s request.”
Future uncertain
The ugly incident throws Slater’s future into further doubt, following recent reports he’s been axed from his commentary role with Channel 7.
However the network has denied those claims.
“At this stage of the cricket season, Michael is working for a number of broadcasters,” a spokesman said.
“He doesn’t actually come back into our world until the start of the season (2019/2020).’
Slater played 74 Tests and 42 one-day internationals for Australia, scoring over 6000 runs across both formats.
