Hijacking Scare Sparked By Drunk Passenger On Virgin Flight VA41 From The Land Of Oz
From the archive: published Apr 25, 2014, 12 years ago. Details may have changed since.
A hijacking scare was sparked by a drunk passenger who hails from Australia, which is also affectionately known as the land of Oz.
In a related report by The Inquisitr, another phone-based hijacking scare caused the US military to send F-15 fighter jets to escort an Alaskan Airlines plane. At one point it was thought that flight MH370 might have been hijacked by the passengers, although some say sabotage is still a possible scenario.
The Virgin Australia pilot started the hijacking scare when the plane landed at Bhali’s airport when it was reported that a potential hijacker had attempted to enter the cockpit area. The pilot did not know what was going on, but only knew that someone was banging on the door and trying to gain access. This distress call by the pilot to air traffic control caused a full scale security alert which caused the closing of the airport by Indonesian authorities.
Witnesses like Chris Corless were at the airport when the hijacking scare happened and this is how he describes the reaction:
“My wife and I were waiting for our flight and just noticed planes weren’t departing. Then the Virgin flight landed and was escorted immediately to the tarmac opposite the terminal. Security surrounded the plane and then there was some movement then security left and the plane taxied to a normal gate. All said and done in 30 minutes. Sounds like it wasn’t serious, security didn’t take long to clear the situation.”
A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that authorities made an arrest following the hijacking scare:
“The Department can confirm the arrest of a Queensland man following an incident on board a Virgin Airline flight to Denpasar. The Australian Consulate will provide consular assistance as required.”
Virgin officials claim the incident “was a hundred percent not a hijacking” attempt and instead blame 28-year-old Matt Christopher Lockley of either being drunk or effected by drugs. Police officials say they have the Australian man in custody and will be interrogated. They also say there “clearly was a miscommunication” which caused the hijacking scare.