Man arrested for jumping out of plane at Melbourne Airport

A Jetstar passenger caused a disturbance after opening the emergency exit door and jumping out of the plane shortly after it landed at Melbourne Airport.

The incident occurred on a JQ507 flight from Sydney, which touched down in Melbourne around 10 a.m.

Witnesses reported that the man ignored flight attendants’ instructions to sit down, pacing around before suddenly opening the emergency exit.

According to Sky News host Kieran Gilbert, “Flight attendants were telling the man to sit down, but he wasn’t listening to the crew.” After opening the door, the man climbed onto the plane’s right wing and exited using the evacuation slide.

As the situation unfolded, passengers on board were shouting at the man to “Sit down!” Despite the commotion, he was quickly restrained by ground staff and arrested by the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

The Airline confirmed  the incident, stating, “The plane was parked at the gate at the time. The passenger has been arrested by the AFP.”

One passenger, Adam, who was nearby during the incident, shared his experience: “As we were taxiing to the gate, the gentleman stood up and ignored instructions to sit down. He seemed disturbed, and it looked like he was having some kind of psychotic episode. When we arrived at the gate, he pulled the emergency exit. Everyone was screaming at him to stop, and some tried to physically restrain him.”

Adam added, “It was a very tense atmosphere. The woman sitting in the emergency exit row was especially traumatized by the whole situation.”