Drunk passenger sparks hijack scare on Virgin Australia plane

Jakarta:  A drunk passenger allegedly tried to get into the cockpit and sparked a hijack scare on a Virgin Australia plane that landed at Bali airport on Friday. "This is no hijacking, this is a miscommunication," said Heru Sudjatmiko, a Virgin Australia official on the Indonesian resort island. "What happened was there was a drunk person... too much alcohol consumption caused him to act aggressively." National police spokesman Suhardi Alius said the passenger had been arrested over the incident. An airline official said the passenger had been handcuffed by the crew after he caused disturbance. When the plane first landed, the Indonesian Air Force suspected that it had been hijacked. "We got information that a 737-800 from Brisbane to Bali has been hijacked," spokesman Hadi Tjahjanto had told MetroTV television station. But spokespersons for Virgin soon clarified that it was a misunderstanding over an unruly passenger. Palani Mohan, a passenger on a Garuda flight that was about to take off from Bali, said: "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. "I saw at least five vehicles including military-style trucks, filled with men in uniform, rushing towards the plane."