Man gets arrested after he opens plane’s door and walks onto wing at Australian airport
Authorities detained a passenger on a Jetstar flight from Sydney to Melbourne after he disregarded the aircraft’s safety procedures and left the aircraft through the emergency exit. The Jetstar Flight JQ507, an Airbus A320, was taxiing to its gate at Melbourne Airport on Thursday when the incident happened.
Eyewitnesses claim that the man had been acting strangely before the incident, which alarmed other travelers. He hurried to the emergency exit, which released a slide from the wing to the ground, as soon as the aircraft came to a stop. But rather than take the slide, the man decided to use one of the airplane’s engines to get across the wing and land on the tarmac, according to TIME Magazine.
Audrey Varghese said to Melbourne Radio 3AW, “the man was exhibiting some quite strange behavior.” Varghese added that “as soon as the plane started coming to a stop, he immediately got up and charged to where the emergency exit row is.”
The Australian Federal Police were notified right away by Jetstar employees, and they came to the location and took the person into custody. After that, the man was placed under arrest on charges of acting aggressively and breaking aviation safety rules. After being examined by medical professionals, he was taken to a nearby hospital for additional evaluation.
Melbourne Airport applauded its ground crew’s prompt action in stepping in to protect both airport workers and other passengers. Authorities are currently investigating the incident and plan to charge the person at a later time.
“Melbourne Airport is proud of the exceptional response from ground crew, which meant there was no immediate danger to other passengers or airport staff,” a statement from the airport read.
