{"id":431782,"date":"2026-05-17T09:05:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T09:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/431782\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T09:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T09:05:08","slug":"qantas-flight-to-texas-diverted-to-tahiti-after-alleged-drunk-passenger-bites-cabin-crew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/431782\/","title":{"rendered":"Qantas flight to Texas diverted to Tahiti after alleged drunk passenger bites cabin crew"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mplxTcLUMibHPxLgQP\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cBro, I was just about to walk out for a cigarette,\u201d the passenger can be heard saying.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mplxTcLUMibHPxLgQP\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cPut that wrist lock off [sic] me again, there\u2019s problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"Footage uploaded to Instagram allegedly captures the man, who appears drunk, arguing with staff and claiming he was about to step off the plane for a cigarette. Photo \/ Mike Goldstein\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>Footage uploaded to Instagram allegedly captures the man, who appears drunk, arguing with staff and claiming he was about to step off the plane for a cigarette. Photo \/ Mike Goldstein<\/p>\n<p class=\"mplxTcLUMibHPxLgQP\" style=\"display:none\">There is continued swearing as the Qantas workers tell him to behave, and a couple of passengers also get up and attempt to control him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mplxTcLUMibHPxLgQP\" style=\"display:none\">The person who recorded the footage said on the clip the passenger was drunk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mplxTcLUMibHPxLgQP\" style=\"display:none\">The footage then shows Tahitian police coming on board, and the camera turns down the aisle, showing the man face down on the floor being restrained.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mplxTcLUMibHPxLgQP\" style=\"display:none\">The footage does not show any alleged biting.<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"The man is banned from flying Qantas. Photo \/ The Sydney Morning Herald via Getty Images\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>The man is banned from flying Qantas. Photo \/ The Sydney Morning Herald via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"mplxTcLUMibHPxLgQP\" style=\"display:none\">The Sydney Morning Herald reports the passenger is not an Australian national.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mplxTcLUMibHPxLgQP\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cThe safety of our customers and our crew is our number one priority and we have zero tolerance for disruptive or threatening behaviour on our flights,\u201d Qantas said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mplxTcLUMibHPxLgQP\" style=\"display:none\">The Melbourne to Dallas flight was diverted to the Tahitian capital, Papeete.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mplxTcLUMibHPxLgQP\" style=\"display:none\">The plane refuelled and landed in Texas a few hours late.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mplxTcLUMibHPxLgQP\" style=\"display:none\">The passenger has been slapped with a total ban from Qantas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mplxTcLUMibHPxLgQP\" style=\"display:none\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/my-account\/profile\/newsletters\/?from=cmp\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up to Herald Premium Editor\u2019s Picks<\/a>, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week\u2019s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/my-account\/subscription\/offers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cBro, I was just about to walk out for a cigarette,\u201d the passenger can be heard saying. \u201cPut&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431783,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[74,1554,7818,16640,56883,138,45719,9260,14900,73,5136,31046,221036,70,19473,1019,221037,1329,79,111,139,69,14734,15026,4372,167881,14920,61,15391,102],"class_list":["post-431782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-after","tag-alleged","tag-allegedly","tag-bites","tag-booted","tag-business","tag-cabin","tag-captured","tag-crew","tag-diverted","tag-drama","tag-drunk","tag-erupting","tag-flight","tag-footage","tag-international","tag-intervening","tag-member","tag-midair","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-passenger","tag-plane","tag-qantas","tag-tahiti","tag-texas","tag-to","tag-wild","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}