Scoot Flight TR7 was on its way to Singapore from Gold Coast, Australia, when a huge airlines/flight-attendants-brawl-on-flight-results-in-lawsuit.html” target=”_self” rel=”nofollow”>brawl erupted on the flight.
Twenty minutes after takeoff, a male passenger became aggressive and wanted to fight other passengers. A fight ensued and footage shows passengers trying to restrain him while a flight attendant asks the man to stop fighting.
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The man can be heard screaming at passengers: “What, you’re going to kick me off the flight now?”
Eventually, a group of male passengers pinned the passenger down but despite restraining the passenger, the pilot ultimately made the decision to turn the plane around and land in Sydney.
The Australian Federal Police and paramedics apprehended the man at Sydney Airport and took him to St. George Hospital.
A Scoot spokeswoman said the flight diverted due to “a disruption onboard caused by an unruly passenger.”
According to the spokeswoman, crew members tried to move passengers to different seats before the fight broke out to defuse an escalating situation, but it didn’t help.
“Following safety procedure, our crew stepped in to break up the fight and were assisted by other passengers. The unruly passenger was eventually subdued with two restraining kits, with the help of five passengers,” the spokeswoman said.
“A decision was made to return to Sydney where he was handed over to local law enforcement. In Sydney, we were able to transfer the passengers to alternative flights bound for Singapore, on both Scoot’s flights as well as Singapore Airlines’ flights. In Singapore, Scoot representatives will be meeting with arriving customers to assist them where necessary.”
Some passengers were not happy with how Scoot handled the situation.
Tattoo artist Rico Garilli, the passenger who filmed the fight, said that the man was obviously drunk and shouldn’t have been allowed to board the flight.
Garilli told Sunrise, “We were sitting next to him at the bar while the flight was delayed and he was putting them down. Before we’d even taken off he was standing up and staff couldn’t control him. We probably shouldn’t have taken off in the first place.”
“He was pretty incoherent—he was slurring his words. It was so surprising they let him on the flight—from the get-go, you could tell he was just way too drunk.”
When asked what provoked the man to get in the fight, Garilli said, “He was just out for a fight really, just provoking people for no reason.”
A passenger identified as Billy, who apparently held the unruly passenger down with four other men, told Kiss FM: “I woke up and saw a big crowd of people so I got up walked down the back of the plane. The man was punching everyone and pushing people—he elbowed some young kid in the head.”
“I jumped on him, we held him down, he was going crazy.”
Billy added: “The airline just didn’t care. They were serving food while we were holding him down and zip-tying him.”
According to news.com.au, passenger Bea Garcia said, “Can’t say I’m pleased with how Scoot handled the situation especially the aftermath as we were expected to stay in airport chairs and were not provided a hotel for the night. When we complained and explained that our flight was more than 7.5 hours away, we were simply told to email feedback and complain.”
“While I do not blame the airline for what happened with this passenger, I feel it was your responsibility and obligation to us, paying customers, to at least make our overnight stay in Singapore comfortable. It really was the least you could do,” she wrote.
An investigation into the matter is ongoing with the Australian Federal Police, and no charges have currently been made.
