Man arrested on Virgin flight VA1109, released without charge after allegation of ‘hijack’ comment

A man flying to NSW was arrested after another passenger claimed to have heard him say he “might hijack this plane”, only for police to find no evidence of “criminal behaviour”.

A flight radar image showing the path of Virgin Airlines flight VA1104, which returned to Brisbane. Picture: FlightRadar24

A man flying to NSW was arrested after another passenger claimed to have heard him say he “might hijack this plane”, only for police to find no evidence of “criminal behaviour”.

Australian Federal Police officers boarded Virgin flight VA1109, which had returned to Brisbane after completing roughly half of its journey to Newcastle, and escorted the man off on Sunday night.

However, after questioning the man, it is understood they deemed the complaint to be baseless.

The man was accordingly released without charge.

In a statement, the AFP said it had spoken to passengers and cabin crew regarding “allegations of a disturbance on the flight”.

“No criminal behaviour was identified, and no further action will be taken,” the statement said.

Virgin Australia declined to comment, saying the incident was “a matter for the AFP”.

Another passenger on the plane told The Daily Telegraph it was their second ill-fated flight of the day, with the first having been cancelled because of engine issues.

He said the pilot had announced during the second flight that it was returning to Brisbane because of a technical “error” with the plane.

The passenger eventually made it to Newcastle at the third attempt.

The incident comes just days after an unrelated incident in which a teenager allegedly attempted to board a plane from Avalon to Sydney while carrying a loaded shotgun.