Jetstar Flight 27 was
carrying 314 passengers when it diverted to Bali on Wednesday night after the
six who were travelling together to the tourist island of Phuket became
"extremely disruptive among themselves" and refused requests from the
crew, the Australian budget airline said in a statement.
The flight from Sydney to
Thailand was diverted to Indonesia to offload a group of drunken Australian
traveling companions who started throwing punches at each other, officials said
today.
The airline said all six
were forced off the plane, but Bali officials said only five men were held by
airport security and faced deportation to Australia.
It is not clear what happened
to the sixth passenger.
Bali airport manager
Trikora Harjo said an investigation determined that the only reason the men
started fighting was because they were under the influence of alcohol.
"They were not
seriously injured, just bruised," Harjo said.
Nine Network television
showed video of one of the men with a black eye being escorted by security
guards from the plane. Nine reported another man had bled heavily in the plane
from a broken nose.
Bali airport official
Yusfandri Gona said the men would undergo health checks before they are
deported.
"They drank too much
beer and liquor on the aircraft. Some of them started fighting, yelling and
punching each other and ignored other passengers and the cabin crew's requests
for calm and order," Gona said.
Nine reported the fighting
broke out five hours into the nine hours and 20 minute flight to Phuket. Bali
is less than seven hours from Sydney.
"The other customers
on board supported the decision to offload the group in Bali and thanked the
crew," Jetstar said.
The plane continued on to
Phuket an hour after landing in Bali.
The airline did not say
whether it will pursue the troublemakers for the cost of the diversion.
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