Unruly Air NZ traveller brought rapidly to earth
A man who had to be restrained on an Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to Los Angeles is being returned to this country after being denied entry into the US.
The incident happened on an NZ6 flight from Auckland to Los Angeleslanding in the United States at about 7am yesterday.
An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said police met the aircraft on arrival.
‘‘Given the matter is now with the appropriate authorities, we’re unable to give further details.’’
A Customs and Border Protection Los Angeles spokesperson said the passenger was drunk and verbally abusive to crew and passengers.
‘‘He was returned to New Zealand. He wasn’t violent, there’s no crime, no charges, he was just denied entry to the US.’’
A New Zealand Police spokesperson said the incident was a matter for US authorities.
An Australian passenger, who did not want to be named, said the incident happened about four hours into the flight, about a third of the way to Los Angeles.
‘‘A man was knocked to the ground by staff and tied up to his chair for the rest of the flight.’’
The passenger said the man was kept at the very back of the plane.
‘‘It looked like they used seat belts to hold him to the chair.
‘‘The crew wouldn’t say anything and most people didn’t know it happened.’’