Airline Passengers' Fight Over Cell Phone Forces Flight To Turn Back Mid-Air

A QantasLink flight to Canberra was forced to return to Sydney mid-way Tuesday after two passengers got into an argument over a cell phone. One of them reportedly threw down the other's cell phone.

Speaking to news.com.au, an unidentified co-passenger said that an elderly man got annoyed with a younger passenger after the latter refused to switch off his cell phone during take-off. This led to an argument between the two.

“I was a few rows up from the two men, however I didn’t hear anything or an argument. We took off and were about halfway to Canberra when the pilot said we would be turning around and heading back to Sydney. He said any passenger altercation won’t be tolerated on-board,” the passenger recalled.

Police entered the flight after it landed in Sydney and escorted the two men off the plane.

“When we landed in Sydney, the air hostess opened the doors to the police. Three police (officers) came in and took the two men off the plane,” the passenger said.

Another passenger said, “I heard some people say the older man threw the younger one’s phone and the air hostess got involved. The air hostess said, ‘That’s not your job; that's my job’. It all happened very quickly, there were no raised voices. Back in Sydney, the men were very quiet during the arrest. Qantas handled it very well … giving us the option to get off plane in Sydney if we wanted to. It was a big pain though … an inconvenience to everybody, especially with all the delays because of the winds in Sydney. But Qantas did a very good job to resolve it all.”

Confirming the incident, an Australian Federal Police (AFP) spokesperson said, “AFP officers spoke with staff and a number of passengers in relation to an alleged on-board altercation -- however no charges have been laid at this time. AFP investigations are ongoing and no further comment can be made.”