A Qantas flight from Melbourne to Dallas-Fort Worth was diverted to Tahiti after a passenger allegedly bit a crew member. The incident occurred on flight QF21, which had approximately 11 hours remaining of its 18-hour journey when the disruption took place.
Local authorities boarded the aircraft upon landing in Papeete, the capital of Tahiti, and arrested the passenger. The individual has been banned from all Qantas Group flights, according to news reports. Comedian Mike Goldstein, who was on the flight, shared a video of the confrontation on Instagram.
In the video, the passenger can be seen stumbling and swearing at crew members after emerging from the toilet. He says he was “trying to open the f***ing door”. A flight attendant responds: “Keep the language down ... There are kids around everywhere, and you're acting immature.” The man appears confused, asking if he was “smoking any weed” and later says, “I was just about to walk out for a cigarette”. He becomes more aggressive when asked to move to the back of the plane.
Real-time flight tracking organisation Air Nav Radar reported that the passenger allegedly bit a crew member, though this has not been confirmed by Qantas or authorities. The video shows the plane landing in Tahiti and a police officer walking past passengers. Local news indicates the man was not Australian.
After refuelling, the flight continued to Dallas-Fort Worth, arriving several hours late on Saturday. Qantas said in a statement: “The safety of our customers and our crew is our number one priority, and we have zero tolerance for disruptive or threatening behaviour on our flights.” The incident follows a similar case a month earlier on a Canberra-to-Perth flight.
