A Qantas passenger achieved the unthinkable this week and committed an act I genuinely never thought was possible. No, they didn’t slurp a vape in their seat during takeoff and get away with it. They boarded a plane in Sydney without going through security, which meant more than 200 passengers had to be re-screened once the plane landed in Melbourne.
Border Security has been found shaking.
The incident occurred on Wednesday, which is certainly one way to spice up Hump Day.
A Qantas spokesperson told The Guardian “a passenger on a Sydney to Melbourne service (QF487) boarded the flight after inadvertently passing from an ‘unscreened’ to a ‘screened’ part of the airport in Sydney.”
“As a precaution, all passengers on QF487 were escorted from the aircraft when it landed in Melbourne and taken through the screened part of the airport into the unscreened area.”
The spokesperson said doing so avoided “compromising the secure section of the Melbourne terminal, which would have required all passengers who had already been through security to be re-screened.”
“We will investigate to understand how this incident occurred and we apologise for any inconvenience to passengers on the flight.”
Just got off Qantas flight QF487, Sydney to Melbourne. Held up on arrival, apparently we were on a “unscreened aircraft”. All passengers and crew to be screened; AFP here as well. 😐 #Qantas pic.twitter.com/T0uXxan8lp
— Derek Wells (@DerekWells427) September 7, 2022
Qantas if you’re reading this, please investigate this incident within an inch of your lives. If you need to get Scooby Doo and the rest of the Mystery Inc. gang on the blower, so be it.
Per Daily Mail Australia, once the plane landed in Melbourne the captain announced a passenger onboard hadn’t gone through security and everyone would need to pop their bags on a little conveyor belt to be screened once more. It’s giving “well it waz fooken wan av yaz… DISGOOSTANGH!”
The passengers were immediately escorted to security by the AFP and Victoria Police and weren’t even allowed to use the toilets. TBH if there’s one thing I look forward to after getting off a flight, it’s having a piddle party in a normal toilet that doesn’t make a menacing, gurgling sound when flushed.
Melbourne Bureau Chief at The Australian Financial Review Patrick Durkin was on the flight and tweeted that a flight attendant had never seen such scenes in more than two decades flying.
Qantas flight QF487 Syd – Melb just landed deemed unscreened flight. All 200+ passengers will be escorted by AFP, Vic Police, security – no toilet stops – to security screening. Flight attendant never heard it happening over 20 years flying @Qantas @StephenLongAus @4corners pic.twitter.com/Q73hfvIu2o
— Patrick Durkin (@patrickdurkin) September 7, 2022
According to Nine News, the whole situation unravelled after a bloke in the business lounge told staff he hadn’t been screened by security, and between 40 to 60 other passengers also hadn’t been inspected.
“I was passenger zero, if you want to call it that,” he told Melbourne’s 3AW.
He said he’d flown into Sydney Airport from Orange, which did not have security screening, so the inspection was missed during the transfer.
He also said passengers would typically “be directed out of the airport once landing in Sydney, and made to come back through to be checked before boarding their next flight”.
It all sounds like a big ol’ whoopsie daisy if you ask me.
