Drunken passenger 'no hijacker'

A drunken passenger tried to enter the cockpit of a flight from Brisbane, Australia, to Denpasar, Indonesia, but it was not a "hijacking", Virgin Australia said on its official Twitter and Facebook pages on Friday.

Indonesia's local media reported on Friday afternoon that a Virgin Australia flight was "hijacked" and forced to land in Bali.

"There are incorrect reports that a Virgin Australia aircraft was hijacked en route to Denpasar. The aircraft in question has landed safely," Virgin Australia said on Twitter.

"At no point was the safety of our passengers ever in question," the company added on its Facebook page.

According to local media, Virgin Australia's representative at Bali's international airport, Heru Sudjatmiko, said a drunken and unruly passenger became aggressive and was handcuffed by the cabin crew.

Crew members seized the passenger, who authorities identified as Matt Christopher Lockley from Australia, and handcuffed him.

"There was a drunk passenger, intoxicated and aggressively behaved. He was trying to enter the cockpit, banging the door but he did not enter the cockpit," Sudjatmiko, airport manager for Virgin Australia in Bali, told Indonesia's Metro TV.

"The message relayed to air traffic control about an attempt to breach the cockpit reportedly triggered the airport's 'worst case scenario' response, leading to the misreporting of a hijacking," the Australian Broadcasting Corp said.

Earlier, an Indonesian spokesman also confirmed that all passengers on board the plane were unharmed and being evacuated from the plane.

J.A. Barata, a spokesman for the Indonesian Transport Ministry, said by phone that a man trying to enter the cockpit was drunk and did not have a weapon. But the incident triggered a hijack alert, he said.

The Virgin Airlines plane was reported hijacked at 1:04 pm Jakarta time on its way to Denpasar from Brisbane and landed in Bali at 2:10 pm.

Metro TV reported that the Indonesian police arrested the passenger and would investigate his motives.

Indonesia's air force was in standby mode at the Bali airport.

Virgin Australia, formerly Virgin Blue Airlines, is Australia's second-largest airline after Qantas.

The company has been expanded to operate out of 29 cities in Australia and destinations in New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.

Xinhua-AP

(China Daily 04/26/2014 page7)