Ain't Misbehavin', All By Myself

(7/19/2004)

A 31 year old resident of New South Wales in Australia is more or less stuck in Bali after reportedly becoming inebriated and causing an uproar on a June 30, 2004, flight from Perth, Western Australia, to Bali.

The man, thought to have been intoxicated at the time of the incident, tried to force his way to the cockpit of the Garuda Indonesia flight before being tackled by crew and passengers who trussed him up and bundled him off to the rear of the aircraft. Although ticketed to connect on to Amsterdam, the man's flight ended in Bali where local police authorities were awaiting his arrival.

The man has spent the last two weeks in Bali being interviewed by Indonesian and Australian Federal police to determine if adequate grounds exists to issue formal criminal charges. Various reports alleged that at one point the man claimed to other passengers that he was in possession of explosives and intended to hijack and crash the plane. No known terrorist connection has been established for the man who was observed drinking from a private stock of alcohol during the course of the flight.

In addition to the pressing necessity of squaring matters with the Indonesian and Australian police authorities, the man also faces the problem that Garuda Indonesia have stated they refuse to carry him on any of their flights from Bali and, for obvious reasons, apparently no other airline appears to be eager of have the man as their passenger.