Virgin Australia Hijack Scare: Passenger Arrested

A drunk passenger who caused a hijack scare on a Virgin Australia flight to Indonesia has been arrested at Bali Airport.

Matt Lockley, 28, was handcuffed by crew on Flight VA41 after it arrived from Brisbane on Friday. The Boeing 727 was boarded by Indonesian troops soon after it landed amid reports that it had been hijacked.

Virgin said the confusion surrounding the incident was due to a miscommunication and confirmed that the passenger was drunk and aggressive.

Heru Sudjatmiko, a Virgin Australia official, told Indonesia's Metro TV: "This is no hijacking. 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."

An hour before the plane landed in Bali, the pilot alerted traffic controllers about a possible hijacking situation on board after Lockley reportedly banged aggressively on the door of the cockpit.

Lockley later told Bali police that he thought he had been banging on a toilet door as he tried to go for a last-minute toilet break.

Palani Mohan, a passenger on another flight that was about to take off from Bali, told AFP that an announcement was made on his plane alerting passengers to the fact that the airport was on 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," he said.

"I saw at least five vehicles including military-style trucks, filled with men in uniform, rushing towards the plane. Then the Virgin plane taxied away, followed by the convoy of security forces."

Police said Lockley, who suffers from a medical condition, had taken several painkillers, including four Panadol and two Voltaren tablets before boarding the flight in Brisbane. He was taken to a Bali hospital and will be questioned after his health has improved.