A Virgin Australia flight from Melbourne to Perth was diverted after a female passenger allegedly threatened to kill everyone on board.
About an hour into flight VA697 the woman started shouting, a witness told the ABC.
When Virgin staff tried to calm her down, the woman threatened to kill people if they did not stop the plane.
The flight was diverted to Adelaide, and upon landing five Australian Federal police officers burst on board and escorted the woman off
The flight was diverted to Adelaide, and upon landing five Australian Federal police officers burst on board and escorted the woman off.
Her baggage was removed and inspected before the plane could refuel and continue its journey to Perth.
But the flight, which was due to leave Melbourne at 8.30pm on Thursday had already been delayed to poor weather.
By the time it landed in Perth at 3.15am, it was four hours late.
‘It was a flight from hell,’ a passenger told the ABC.
‘A four-and-a-half-hour flight looks like being a seven- to eight-hour flight.’
A Virgin Australia flight from Melbourne to Perth was diverted after a female passenger allegedly threatened to kill everyone on board
A number of passengers were Tweeting about the experience while on board.
‘So now I’m in Adelaide airport because there was a nutter on the plane yelling death threats. Wondering if we will take off again for Perth,’ Jeremy Laird wrote.
A Virgin Australia spokesperson confirmed the incident, and apologised to passages.
‘As a result of a disruptive passenger onboard Virgin Australia flight VA697 from Melbourne to Perth, the captain made the decision to divert to Adelaide and the passenger was removed from the aircraft by the Australian Federal Police.’
An Australian Federal Police spokesman said the woman was assisting police, but no charges have been laid.