A plane travelling from Brisbane to Indonesia was forced to divert to Darwin after three Queensland men were allegedly knocking back duty-free booze and vaping mid-flight.
According to the Australian Federal Police (AFP), two 20-year-old men from Sheldon and Wellington Point, as well as a 42-year-old East Brisbane man, allegedly became intoxicated on board a Virgin Australia flight on July 28.
Given their behaviour, the guests were asked to move from their exit row seats because the airline crew were worried the trio wouldn’t be able to help out should an emergency arise.
While the men eventually relocated seats, they allegedly put up a bit of a fight beforehand.
Police claimed the men then started to drink previously purchased duty-free alcohol and became v disruptive. One passenger even alleged that one of the fellas was vaping in his seat.
While there’s no law that forbids someone from bringing a vape or e-cigarette onto a plane, making use of them is strictly prohibited by airlines.
And come on, there are already enough things that make a flight intolerable —passengers resting their bare tootsies on your armrest, very little legroom, guests with gastro. No one needs to deal with these shenanigans on top of it.
The AFP later released a statement that revealed the “aircraft captain made the decision to divert the flight to Darwin, over concerns the group’s behaviour may escalate further”.
“AFP officers entered the cabin and escorted the three males from the flight without incident at around 4pm on Friday afternoon,” the statement continued.
“The aircraft then continued its journey to Denpasar following the diversion to Darwin to offload the passengers.”
Darwin Airport Commander Superintendant Greg Davis said the AFP would not tolerate offensive and disruptive behaviour on planes and in airports.
“We know that the majority of passengers do the right thing and they should not have their travel disrupted or feel unsafe because of the bad behaviour of some individuals,” he said.
“We again remind the public that airports are not nightclubs.”
The three men were “spoken to and cautioned” by authorities within the Darwin terminal before being released from custody.
However, they are expected to be fined with offensive or disorderly behaviour, consuming alcohol and smoking (includes e-cigarettes) on board an aircraft.
Remember, folks: catch flights, not fines.
Image: ai_yoshi (iStock).
