A 43-year-old passenger was escorted by police off a Virgin Australia flight last night over an alleged upskirting incident.
The Sydney to Brisbane flight was scheduled to take off at 9pm, but was delayed almost an hour after the plane was taxied back to the terminal.
The incident happened during the safety briefing, when the man allegedly began filming up the skirt of a flight attendant’s skirt. According to a passenger on the flight, the man was spotted by another flight attendant, and the plane turned back around.
An Australian Federal Police spokesperson confirmed to PEDESTRIAN.TV that they had responded to a request for assistance from an airline at Sydney Airport on Thursday evening.
“AFP officers escorted a 43-year-old male passenger from a place, following an alleged incident,” the spokesperson said. “The man was interviewing by police and investigations are ongoing.”
A spokesperson for Virgin Australia confirmed to P.TV that the AFP were required to meet a passenger from an aircraft yesterday evening “following reports of inappropriate behaviour.”
“The safety of our crew and passengers is our number one priority,” the spokesperson said.
A passenger on the flight, Dan Terry, told P.TV that Virgin Australia staff came around and spoke to everyone about what was going on, apologising for the inconvenience.
“I can’t speak highly enough of the Virgin staff,” he said. “They were so apologetic, but no one was complaining.”
He posted a pic of the AFP talking to the passenger on his Instagram story – the alleged offender cannot be seen.
“Well done @virginaustralia for standing up against sexual assault on your flight tonight!” he said. “Your staff deserve a bonus!”
