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Passenger opens jet’s door and walks on wing after landing at Australia airport
A passenger was arrested at an Australian airport after he left a stationary airliner through an emergency exit, walked along a wing, and then climbed down a jet engine to the tarmac on Thursday, officials said.
Jetstar Flight JQ507 had arrived at Melbourne Airport from Sydney and had parked at a terminal gate when the man left the plane by the right-side exit, officials said.
Opening the exit automatically deployed a slide from the back of the wing at the fuselage to the ground, a Jetstar statement said. But the man instead walked along the wing and climbed down one of the Airbus A320’s two engines, an official said.
Passenger Audrey Varghese said passengers screamed and shrieked as the man began “erratic” behavior shortly before he opened the hatch.
“The man was exhibiting some quite strange behavior,” Varghese told Melbourne Radio 3AW.
“As soon as the plane had started coming to a stop, he immediately got up and basically charged to where the emergency exit row is, and in the process shoving people, causing a bit of commotion, (and) ripped open the emergency door,” Varghese said.
Varghese told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the incident left her “terrified.”
“I was really shocked at first. My friend and I were talking at the time and then as soon as we heard someone shrieking we sort of froze. We were quite terrified,” she told the outlet.
Another passenger, identified as Maddison, told Nine News television the man had been vaping, which is not allowed, during the 90-minute mid-morning flight and had unsuccessfully demanded the air crew provide him with alcohol.
Australian Federal Police officers had been alerted by Jetstar staff and arrested the man for “alleged aggressive behavior and breaching aircraft safety protocols,” a police statement said.
He was assessed by paramedics and taken to a hospital, where he remains for further assessment, the police statement said.
Police were continuing to investigate and charges were likely to be laid at a later date, they said.
Melbourne Airport said the man was detained by aircrew and ground staff before police arrested him.
Social media images showed at least three ground staff restraining the man on the tarmac.
“Melbourne Airport is proud of the exceptional response from ground crew, which meant there was no immediate danger to other passengers or airport staff,” an airport statement said.
Varghese spoke from the baggage collection area of the airport an hour after the landing and said passengers had been told the deployed slide had delayed the unloading of their luggage. Nine News reported the baggage was released hours later.
The incident in Australia comes one day after the Federal Aviation Administration said it had referred 43 more unruly passenger cases to the FBI for criminal prosecution review during the past year.
The FAA said the agency has now referred more than 310 of the most serious cases to the FBI since late 2021.
“Dangerous passengers put everyone at risk—and the Biden-Harris Administration has been clear that those who disrupt flights will be held accountable,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Unruly travelers face stiff fines from the FAA and possible criminal prosecution too.”
A Georgia county’s emergency call center was overwhelmed by calls on Sept. 4 about a school shooting at Apalachee High School that killed four people and wounded nine others, records released Friday by Barrow County show.
Local news organizations report many of the 911 phone calls were not released under public record requests because state law exempts from release calls recording the voice of someone younger than 18 years old. That exemption would cover calls from most of the 1,900 students at the school in Winder, northeast of Atlanta.
Calls spiked around 10:20 a.m., when authorities have said that 14-year-old suspect Colt Gray began shooting. Many calls were answered with an automated message saying there was a “high call volume,” WAGA-TV reported.
One man called 911 after receiving text messages from a girlfriend. He was put on hold for just over 10 minutes because of an influx of calls at the time of the shooting, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
“She hears people yelling outside, so I don’t know if that’s officers in the building or that’s — I don’t know,” he said, adding that she was eventually evacuated out of the school.
Other adults also called 911 after their children contacted them.
“My daughter calling me crying. Somebody go ‘boom, boom, boom, boom,'” one mother said. The 911 operator responded: “Ma’am we have officers out there, OK?”
Parents of students at an elementary school and middle school neighboring Apalachee also flooded 911 seeking information.
“Sir, my daughter goes to school next door to Apalachee. Is there a school shooter?” one caller asked.
“We do have an active situation (at) Apalachee High School right now,” the operator responded. “We have a lot of calls coming in.”
More than 500 radio messages between emergency personnel were also released Friday.
“Active shooter!” an officer yells in one audio clip while speaking with a dispatcher, CNN reported. Another officer responds, “Correct. We have an active shooter at Apalachee High School.”
The shooting killed teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, as well as students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14. Another teacher and eight more students were wounded, with seven of those hit by gunfire.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported Thursday that the suspect rode the school bus on the day of the shooting with the assault-style rifle concealed in his backpack.
He then asked a teacher for permission to go to the front office to speak with someone, and when he received it, he was allowed to take his backpack with him, GBI said. He then went to a restroom, where he hid, and then eventually took out the weapon and started shooting, investigators said. A knife was also found on him when he was arrested.
According to investigators, the suspect enrolled at Apalachee High on Aug. 14, and between Aug. 14 and the day of the shooting, he was absent for nine days of school.
The family told CBS News that the suspect’s maternal grandmother had visited the school the day before the massacre to discuss the suspect’s alleged behavioral issues.
The suspect has been charged as an adult with four counts of murder, and District Attorney Brad Smith has said more charges are likely to be filed against him in connection with the wounded. Authorities have also charged his father, 54-year-old Colin Gray, alleging that he gave his son access to the gun when he knew or should have known that the teen was a danger to himself and others.
The 13,000 students at Barrow County’s other schools returned to class Tuesday. The 1,900 students who attend Apalachee are supposed to start returning the week of Sept. 23, officials said Friday.
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