Australian man arrested over Virgin flight scare in Bali

Australian Matt Lockley, 28, is led away by Indonesian authorities after an alleged mid-air incident on a Virgin flight to Bali. Source: News Corp Australia

Mr Lockley is escorted from the Virgin Australia flight at Denpasar airport. Source: No Source

A DRUNK passenger sparked a hijack alert on a Virgin Australia flight heading for Bali today when he attempted to break into the cockpit, officials said.

Indonesian police say Matt Christopher Lockley was arrested after the incident.

Security forces rushed to Denpasar airport when the Boeing 737-800 with 137 passengers and seven crew touched down on the popular resort island, after the pilot reported the Brisbane to Bali flight had been hijacked, Indonesian authorities said.

However, Virgin Australia said the drunken passenger had sparked a false alarm when he slammed on the cockpit door.

“This is no hijacking, this is a miscommunication,” said Heru Sudjatmiko, a Virgin Australia official in Bali.

“What happened was there was a drunk person ... too much alcohol consumption caused him to act aggressively.”

“Based on the report I received, the passenger tried to enter the cockpit, through the cockpit door, by banging on the door but he did not enter the cockpit at all.”

He said the individual was stopped by crew, handcuffed and placed in a seat at the back of the plane.

After landing, at 3.16pm local time (5.16pm AEST), he was taken off the aircraft and put under arrest.

Transport ministry official Herry Bakti said the alert was triggered an hour into the flight when the pilot sent a signal to Bali airport that the plane had been hijacked, and then followed up with a verbal confirmation.

“We then guided the flight to land as they were flying close to the airport,” he said.

No passengers were hurt during the incident, officials said. Palani Mohan, a passenger on a Garuda flight that was preparing to take off from Bali, said that when the drama began the pilot of his plane announced the airport was in lockdown.

“The captain of my plane made an announcement saying we were delayed indefinitely because a hijack was going on in Bali airport, about 150 metres away from us.”

“I saw at least five vehicles including military-style trucks, filled with men in uniform, rushing towards the plane,” he said.

“Then the Virgin plane taxied away, followed by the convoy of security forces.” The airport was shut down for about an hour but flights resumed after the Virgin plane was taken off the tarmac.

Bakti said nine aircraft that had been approaching Bali were diverted to other Indonesian airports during the shutdown.

Bali, a pocket of Hinduism in Muslim-majority Indonesia, is an enormously popular tourist destination, attracting millions of foreign visitors every year to its palm-fringed beaches.

The airport has been the scene of drama before. In April last year a Lion Air plane missed the runway as it came into land, smashing into the sea and splitting in two.

Dozens of the 108 people on board were injured, but there were no fatalities. Bali has also been the scene of attacks by Muslim extremists in the past. Bombings on the resort island in 2002 killed 202 people, mostly Western tourists.

Several flights destined for Bali were diverted to an airports in eastern Java as a result of the incident.

“Five flights were diverted … Garuda, Lion and Mandala, as well as two others,” Surabaya airport duty manager Herdiono told Indonesian online news service Detik.com.