A man was arrested on Monday for allegedly running naked down the aisle on a domestic flight in Australia and knocking down a crew member to the floor. The flight was forced to make a U-turn following which the Australian police arrested the man at the airport.
The Virgin Australia flight was en route from Perth to Melbourne when it was forced to turn back to offload the male passenger, who disrupted the flight’s environment after his alleged “naked run” down the aisle, reported The Guardian.
The "disruptive passenger was offloaded" from the flight, as per the Virgin spokesperson. The flight was scheduled to cover the journey from the west coast city of Perth to Melbourne on the east coast in 3 hours and 30 minutes.
After an airport staff member reported the incident to the police in Perth, the accused was arrested on Monday evening, as per AP News.
Virgin Airlines issued an apologetic statement to its passengers regarding the incident. “The safety of our guests and crew is our top priority and we sincerely apologise to guests impacted,” said the airline spokesperson.
Recounting the incident, a passenger speaking to The Guardian said, “All of a sudden I hear this running up the aisle and the guy’s got no clothes on and he’s just charging towards the front of the plane”.
Describing the disorderliness that included “a lot of yelling and screaming”, he also said, “Initially you think, God forbid, it could be an attack. It’s really distressing being on a plane in that situation.
However, there is no clear information of how or where on the plane the passenger removed his clothes. The airline and police deny commenting on the same any further.
The alleged passenger who caused the disturbance was brought to a nearby hospital for evaluation, where he stayed till Tuesday.