Former Australian Test Cricket Michael Slater has reportedly been involved in a bizarre situation that has seen him booted from a Qantas domestic flight after engaging in an “extremely heated argument” with two female friends, before subsequently locking himself in the plane bathroom and refusing to exit.
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The story goes that Slater was booked on a Qantas regional flight from Sydney to Wagga at around 3pm on Sunday, but became involved in an argument with two friends that was described by on-lookers as “not a run-of-the-mill argument.”
Macquarie Radio representatives relayed the story to Ray Hadley and 2GB this afternoon, describing chaotic scenes that wound up causing the flight to be delayed by 30 minutes while Slater was removed from the flight and order was restored.
He’s been involved in an extremely heated argument — this has been described as not a run of the mill argument — it was yelling, it was swearing and it was only getting worse as they moved to their seats,” Fergus said.
What we’re told by witnesses is Michael removed himself from the situation and went to the bathrooms of the plane.
As they were doing the safety briefings he remained in the bathroom. Crews repeatedly asked him to come out and he refused.
At that point the plane couldn’t take off and it was being delayed further and further and crew were forced to call airport security who boarded the plane.
Slater’s management reportedly denies witness reports that he locked himself in the plane bathroom, however they did confirm that the incident as a whole took place.
Slater issued a short statement confirming his involvement, asserting “I did have an argument with 2 friends whilst boarding a flight to Wagga and I apologise for the inconvenience this caused other passengers on the flight.”
Airline officials confirmed the Australian Federal Police were not called to the scene and the flight departed behind schedule after Slater was removed.
Slater’s employer, the Seven Network, refused to issue comment on the matter after being made aware it took place. Slater and the network have had a soured relationship as of late, with speculation mounting that the broadcaster is on the outs with Seven management due to an alleged reputation of being difficult to work with.
