Naked passenger knocks down crew member on Melbourne-bound Virgin Australia flight, arrested

One of the passengers on the Perth-Melbourne Virgin Australia flight that the incident took place an hour after take off and felt initially that there had been an attack inside the flight. (Representational Image).

A Perth-Melbourne Virgin Australia flight was forced to turn around and land, a short while after taking off after a man allegedly rank naked through the cabin and knocked a crew member to the floor, a Guardian report said.

The incident took place on Monday and local police officials, who had been alerted by Perth airport authorities, arrived at the location and arrested the man at the Perth airport. The plane was turned around an hour after take off to the Victoria capital.

A flight spokesperson issued an apology to all the flyers who had been impacted by the incident. "The safety of our guests and crew is our top priority and we sincerely apologise to guests impacted," the spokesperson said.

One of the passengers said that the incident took place an hour after take off and felt initially that there had been an attack inside the flight. "Initially you think, God forbid, it could be an attack. It’s really distressing being on a plane in that situation," the passenger, identified as Sterling, said.

The man further said that one of the passengers decided to intervene and was joined by two other men, who tackled the man to the ground. "One good Samaritan, this big guy in business class, jumped up straight away to intervene and then these two other guys later got up and tackled him to the ground," Sterling said.

The passenger was taken to a local hospital, where he remained on Tuesday and was expected to be summoned to appear before the magistrates in Perth in June. The charges on him are yet to be finalised.

Also read: Woman pulls down pants mid-air, threatens to urinate in plane aisle. Shocking video is viral