An Air New Zealand passenger has been arrested over an alleged assault on a crew member which led to the international flight being diverted.
Flight NZ176 from Perth to Auckland was forced to land in Melbourne at 1.40am on Wednesday; about three hours into the flight.
Australian Federal Police officers boarded the plane shortly afterwards and removed a 23-year-old New Zealand man.
He was charged with one count of assaulting crew affecting the performance of their duty and was scheduled to appear in the Broadmeadows Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Passengers waited on the tarmac for 90 minutes before reboarding and continuing on to Auckland.
An Air New Zealand spokesman said that while the crew handled the incident well, it would have been confronting for passengers.
‘Incidents like this are distressing for our customers and our people and we have zero tolerance for this sort of behaviour on our aircraft,’ spokesman David Morgan said.
The incident came four days after a bomb scare on another Air New Zealand flight NZ-247 as it approached Sydney from Wellington about 4.50pm on Saturday.
The flight was given permission to land and touched down safely at 5.37pm where it was met by more than 30 emergency service crews on the tarmac, including tactical operations unit, paramedics and firefighters.
The man was allegedly intoxicated and disruptive during the international flight. Picture: Australian Federal Police
The 23-year-old was removed from the flight by the Australian Federal Police. Picture: Australian Federal Police.
The A320 airliner, which was carrying 154 staff and passengers, was isolated on a separate runway at the airport for about an hour before being ferried to a terminal.
An AFP spokesman said the incident posed no danger to public but that ‘investigations are continuing’.
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