Jetstar flight forced to turn around after air hostess 'threatened'

JETSTAR AIRBUS A321-251NX VH-OYK (MSN 11960)

A Jetstar passenger has recalled the terrifying moment a male passenger "threatened" an air hostess, forcing the plane to turn around and land back in Brisbane.

Ms. Harbison had been travelling home from Brisbane to Perth on flight JQ964 with her two young children on Wednesday evening when the incident unfolded. Ms. Harbison said a man in his 40s was moved to the back of the plane after being "loud and vocal" and "harassing some of the women"

"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 media.

Ms. Harbison said she had spoken to other passengers who recalled seeing the man following one of the flight attendants down the aisle of the plane.

"There's this guy and he was walking up and down the aisle ... he followed the air hostess a few times, walking up and down the aisle with her," she said.
                
"He'd walk up and just give evil eyes to the people who were seated. "I tried not to look back to see what was happening, but the air hostess did come past at one stage ... and she looked pretty teary and upset, meanwhile, the guy was literally standing behind her.

"The poor air hostess was going up and down (the plane) and she was young, and he was trailing her the whole way," she said. Ms. Harbison said she could smell alcohol and believed he was intoxicated

"Another passenger also got into an altercation with him and was trying to settle him down but he wasn't listening to him either," she said Ms Harbison said they had been flying for about four hours before the flight attendant "discreetly" came past and asked the passengers to prepare for landing

"None of us knew we were going back to Brisbane Airport ... I thought we were landing in Coober Pedy and in my mind, I was going 'what's happening, what's happening?"" she said.

"It was a few hours of some full freak-out moments "

The Airbus A321 departed Brisbane 30 minutes behind schedule at 7.25 pm from runway 01R and climbed to flight level 340. Two hours into the flight, the pilots decided to turn back to Brisbane. 

The plane landed safely at Brisbane Airport at 11.20 pm on 19L.

Aircraft Information:

Airline: Jetstar

Code: JQ/JST

Aircraft: Airbus A320-232

Registration: VH-VGD

Serial Number: 4527

Engines: 2 x IAE V2527-A5

First Flew: 13/12/2010

Age: 13 Years