Jetstar passenger forces plane to turn back, banned from flying

A Jetstar passenger who forced a flight to turn back around has been charged and issued a no-fly ban.

A Jetstar passenger has been charged and issued with a no-fly ban after he allegedly became disruptive on a flight.

On Tuesday, flight JQ964 was heading to Perth from Brisbane when it had to return to the Queensland capital, landing at 11.30pm.

An Australian Federal Police spokesperson told news.com.au that police charged a 38-year-old man from North Queensland with one count of offensive or disorderly behaviour on an aircraft.

“He was charged following alleged actions on a flight from Perth to Brisbane on Tuesday night,” the spokesperson said.

The man was granted police bail and is scheduled to appear before the Brisbane Magistrates Court on 20 January, 2025.

A mother, who was travelling with her two children on the flight, recalled the moment a man “threatened” an air hostess, before being moved to the back of the plane.

“An air hostess mentioned that he had been threatening … we don’t know exactly what he was saying, but the air hostess was speaking to a passenger in front of us and she was quite distressed and upset,” she told The West Australian.

A Jetstar flight was forced to turn around after a passenger became disruptive on the flight. Picture: Brendan Radke

“(They said) there’s this guy and he is walking up and down the aisle … he followed the air hostess at one stage, walking up and down with her.”

She said the flight attendant looked teary and upset all while the male passenger, who smelt like alcohol, allegedly kept trailing the young crew member.

“Another passenger also got into an altercation with him and was trying to settle him down but he wasn’t listening to him either,” the passenger told the publication.

Flightradar24 footage shows the plane doing a big loop as it returned to Brisbane Airport after about four hours of flying.

The flight was heading to Perth from Brisbane when it returned to the Queensland Capital. Picture: Flightradar24

A Jetstar spokesperson told news.com.au it will “never tolerate disruptive behaviour on our aircraft as safety is our number one priority”.

“We really appreciate customers’ understanding and patience while our crew managed the situation in the air, and once back in Brisbane, worked to get them on their way again.”

When the plane landed, the disruptive passenger was met with AFP members who escorted him off the aircraft.

Jetstar also issued him with a no-fly ban on arrival into Brisbane.

Passengers were provided overnight accommodation and departed the following morning, on Wednesday.

The mother told The West she was impressed at how Jetstar handled the situation.

“I have to give credit to Jetstar … they were really good at getting us straight off the plane and sorting accommodation, buses and a new rescue flight,” she said.

“It was a few hours of some full freak-out moments.”

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