- A Virgin Australia flight turned around after a man ran naked through the cabin.
- The flight from Perth to Melbourne was already delayed over an hour before taking off.
- Australian Federal Police arrested the man, who was later taken to a local hospital.
A Virgin Australia flight had to turn around after a man is said to have run naked through the cabin, The Guardian reported.
Monday's flight from Perth to Melbourne was already more than an hour late taking off, according to data from Flightradar24. It also shows the Boeing 737 made a U-turn less than an hour into the journey.
A spokesperson for the Australian Federal Police told The Guardian that its officers, "arrested a man after he allegedly ran naked through the aircraft mid-flight and knocked a crew member to the floor."
One witness told the radio station 3AW that, "a male passenger suddenly went bananas, running up and down the aisle and bashing on the cockpit door."
"All of a sudden, I hear this running up the aisle and the guy's got no clothes on, and he's just charging towards the front of the plane," another passenger told The Guardian.
He added that a "good Samaritan, this big guy in business class" intervened, and two others helped tackle him to the ground.
The Guardian reported that the man was taken to a local hospital after the incident.
In a statement shared with Business Insider, a Virgin spokesperson said the flight turned around due to a "disruptive passenger" who was "offloaded" by police.
"The safety of our guests and crew is our top priority and we sincerely apologize to guests impacted," they added.
Statistics from the Federal Aviation Administration show unruly-passenger incidents have increased since the pandemic — rising nearly six-fold in 2021 compared to 2019.
While numbers have since been falling, they have remained at more than double the pre-pandemic frequency.