Qantas flight forced to divert after passenger allegedly bites cabin crew, says he wants to 'walk out for a ciggie'

A Qantas flight from Melbourne, Australia to Dallas, U.S., was forced to divert mid-journey after a passenger allegedly became disruptive onboard and bit a cabin crew member.

The incident reportedly took place on May 15, with the aircraft making an unscheduled stop in Papeete, French Polynesia.

Unsteady and slurring

Footage uploaded to social media by U.S. comedian Mike Goldstein showed a man in a heated exchange with the cabin crew.

In the clip, a member of the cabin crew could be heard telling him to "keep the language down".

"Why?" he asked, to which the crew member responded, "Because there's kids around everyone. You're acting immature... You have to behave yourself, you're on a plane."

The man then asked: "We're in the air?"

He appeared unsteady and slurred his words, and added that he wanted to "walk out for a ciggie".

Restrained by others onboard

But when the cabin crew asked him to move to the back of the plane, the man told them to "f*** off".

As he stumbled down the aisle, crew members could be seen attempting to support him, with one remarking that he was acting "like a two-bob watch" (Australian slang for someone throwing a tantrum).

However, the passenger later became violent and had to be restrained by other passengers, ABC News reported.

He is believed to have bitten a Qantas flight attendant during the altercation, although footage did not show this.

He was later seen being pinned down on the airplane floor.

Banned from Qantas flights

The man was met by local authorities upon landing in Papeete.

Qantas later confirmed that he has been issued a no-fly ban across all its services, reported The Guardian.

A spokesperson for the airline said the safety of passengers and crew remains its top priority, adding that the airline has "zero tolerance" for disruptive or threatening behaviour onboard its flights.