How passengers tackled man who stripped on flight and raced in the nude down the aisle

Passengers aboard a Virgin Australia flight have spoken after their plane had to be turned around because of a passenger’s antics.

A naked man caused chaos after he went “charging” towards the front of a plane on a flight from Perth to Melbourne on Monday night, May 27 (read here).

The Virgin Australia flight was forced to return and land at Perth after the nude man allegedly sprinted through the cabin, knocking a crew member to the floor as he went. 

Sterling Ellis, a passenger on the plane, told Today the flight had only left an hour before the commotion kicked off.

“I looked up and someone is completely nude, they charged over one of the flight attendants and it looks like they’ve gone for the door,” he said. 

“There was a gentleman in business class who was a big guy. He stood up and controlled the scene. Two others joined him. It was pretty scary for a moment, the mind can wander to the worst case scenario and for a brief second I did think this was going to be very serious.”

Another passenger told Melbourne radio station 3AW he felt nervous about the situation. 

He said: “A male passenger suddenly went bananas running up and down the aisle and bashing on the cockpit door. Two air marshals had to restrain and handcuff them until the flight landed.” 

A spokesperson for Virgin Australia confirmed the incident took place, saying the flight returned to Perth due to a “disruptive passenger” on board. 

The domestic flight had already been delayed for 90 minutes, even before the chaotic mid-flight disruption, and when it landed back in Perth some passengers opted to board a second flight six hours later, while others decided to wait until the following morning.