Passenger's Antics Termed "Stupid Stunt"

It was a stupid stunt. That's how Australian Transport Minister John Anderson describes a June 5th incident aboard a Virgin Blue flight from Melbourne to Brisbane. As Virgin Blue Flight 323 taxied from the gate with 140 passengers on board, one of them notified a flight attendant that the person sitting next to him said, "This is Bush's plane and it's going down", according to a report in The Australian. The complaining passenger said the suspect had “heavily muddied boots on, and his eyes were glazed over as if he was drugged out of it."

So Much For The Trip To Brisbane.

The aircraft didn't take off. Instead, it was boarded by agents from the Australian Protective Service. The passenger in question was handcuffed and interrogated, but no weapons were found. Transport Minister Anderson says that just shows Australia is on the ball when it comes to attempted hijackings.

Only last week, a Qantas purser and a flight attendant were seriously wounded when a passenger leapt from his seat and stabbed them with a wooden stake. He was apparently intent on getting into the cockpit and forcing the aircraft to crash. In that instance, the suspect was subdued by passengers and crew.

Virgin Blue chief executive Brett Godfrey said the captain did the right thing, given last week's hijack attempt in Melbourne. "Perhaps people are pretty edgy, but rightly so," he said. "I guess we need to take those sorts of actions."

FMI: www.dotrs.gov.au