An Australian man has been arrested in Bali after his AirAsia flight landed for reportedly threatening to jump out of the plane, but he says he was joking.
The plane travelling from Sydney to Denpasar was mid-flight when 25-year-old Dolden Aaron Gerrard was allegedly told repeatedly by crew to sit down on Thursday night.
"But instead he stood and yelled, 'I will be the first person to jump from the plane right now'.... That created panic among passengers," Denpasar Airport Authority investigator Ade Yuliana told reporters on Friday.
Gerrard was told again to sit down and stop yelling but he ignored the crew's request, Mr Yuliana said.
The Sydney man was reported to airport authorities who detained him on arrival.
Gerrard and 10 of his friends had planned a week-long holiday in Bali.
Perhaps, Mr Yuliana said, he was overexcited at this prospect and began acting out, making jokes about jumping out of the plane with his surfboard but "those words can create panic".
According to the AirAsia report obtained by AAP, Gerrard told authorities he was "only joking".
"I didn't really mean it. During the flight I was with my friend and went to the toilet and then took a walk around the plane."
At this point, he said he was talking with friends about skydiving and made the badly worded joke.
He was warned by the crew to not say such words.
When he was told that they would call security on arrival, Gerrard allegedly retorted "we are not afraid of security".
Mr Yuliana said Gerrard could be face charges of endangering the security of a flight, which carries a maximum punishment of two years or a fine of up to 500 million rupiah (A$50,000).
Share
