The Full Story About Virgin Airlines Plane 'Hijack' Scare

A Virgin Australia plane flying to Bali was the focus of a hijack scare after an apparently drunk passenger attempted to enter the plane's cockpit. The security alert began when Indonesian officials said the pilot of the Boeing 737 flight from Brisbane reported a hijack attempt. When the plane landed at Bali's airport it was escorted away from the terminal by military trucks, with other flights grounded, witnesses at the airport said.

theguardian.com

However, the local airport manager for Virgin Australia, Heru Sudjatmiko, told local TV the disturbance was caused by a seemingly drunk passenger, a 28-year-old Australian, who was acting aggressively and had to be handcuffed by crew after trying to enter the cockpit. "This is no hijacking, this is a miscommunication," he was quoted as saying by AFP. "What happened was there was a drunk person. Too much alcohol consumption caused him to act aggressively.

thedailystar.net

Virgin Blue Airlines, also known as Virgin Australia, is the country’s second largest airline.
Started in 2000 with just two planes, within a decade it was expanded to serve 29 cities in Australia and destinations in New Zealand as well as Bali in Indonesian, Phuket in Thailand, Abu Dhabi in the UAE and Los Angeles.

The plane was reportedly circulating above the airport for a while before it could land. The plane has landed at and is sitting on the tarmac at the Denpasar airport, ABC news reports quoting police officials.

firstpost.com

ITV News quotes a Virgin Airline official as saying that the passenger who tried to enter the cockpit was a drunk, and the plane has not been hijacked. The news channel also states that the passenger has been arrested.

firstpost.com

A passenger is detained in Police have told Indonesian TV that a passenger tried to enter the cockpit and take over the plane but has since been arrested.

bbc.com

But Reuters quotes a local television channel as stating that a passenger tried to enter the cockpit of the Virgin Airlines flight, and the pilot called it a "hijack"

ndtv.com

According to unverified reports, a passenger tried to enter the cockpit while the plane was in air, forcing the pilot to enter the special hijack code and then immediately made efforts to land.

firstpost.com

A spokesman for the Indonesian military, Major General Fuad Basya, confirmed the hijack.
"We are now trying to have communications with the airplane but are still unable to do so. The airplane is now at one end of the runway," he said.

smh.com.au

"We got information that a 737-800 from Brisbane to Bali has been hijacked," Indoneisan Air Force spokesman Hadi Tjahjanto told MetroTV television station, according to news agency AFP.

ndtv.com

A Virgin aircraft flying from Australia is believed to have been hijacked at Bali airport, reports quoting Indonesian officials say.

bbc.com