Passengers on a long-haul flight from Australia to Qatar experienced hours of panic after two men turned violent, claimed they had a gun, and allegedly threatened to shoot people on board, the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported. The eyewitnesses reported that the two men appeared restless and agitated shortly after takeoff. The incident took place aboard a Qatar Airways-operated Virgin Australia flight, travelling from Melbourne to Doha on Friday.
They repeatedly paced through the aisles, disrupted nearby travellers, and searched through overhead luggage bins, according to the report.
Passengers reported seeing the men headbutting and spitting at crew members who tried to intervene. In a statement, Qatar Airways confirmed that a physical altercation took place on board. They began arguing, fighting, and yelling threats across the cabin. They even claimed that they had a firearm and were going to shoot people. When flight attendants stepped in to calm the situation, they lashed out physically. As quoted in the report, one passenger claimed they were ‘screaming about wanting to hurt and shoot people’. A post shared by JACQUELINE FELGATE (@jacquifelgate) The flight attendants, recognising the danger to everyone on board, so they decided to restrain them, taking help from a few passengers. The crew used cable ties and handcuffs to secure both men to their seats for the remainder of the flight to prevent further harm. Local police were waiting on the tarmac when the plane finally landed at Hamad International Airport in Doha. Officers boarded the aircraft immediately and took both men into custody. “Both passengers were restrained and, upon arrival in Doha, were handed over to local authorities.
As per the report, it took roughly six to seven people to hold each man down due to the violent struggle. “Really big props to the Qatar flight attendants; they were hands on for about 10 hours straight.
Meanwhile, another said they were ‘headbutting and spitting on flight attendants’. They really couldn’t do too much more,” one witness told 3AW’s Jacqueline Felgate, describing the incident as “very scary”. The airline stated that the disruptive passengers were restrained according to standard procedure. “We can confirm that two male passengers were involved in a physical altercation on board flight VA7 from Melbourne to Doha, operated by Qatar Airways,” the airline told news.com.au in a statement. “The safety and wellbeing of our crew and passengers remain our highest priority.”
Around six hours before the flight VA7 was scheduled to land, the men’s behaviour escalated dramatically.
