A passenger was arrested at an airport in Australia after he left a stationary airplane through an emergency exit, walked along a wing, and then climbed down a jet engine to the tarmac on Thursday, officials said.
At around 10 a.m. local time, Jetstar Flight JQ507 arrived at Melbourne Airport from Sydney. That’s when one passenger exited via the emergency exit, though a spokesperson from Jetstar said that the plane was parked at the gate at the time.
“We can confirm that a passenger opened the emergency exit door after arrival into Melbourne, which automatically deployed the slide,” the spokesperson said in a statement emailed to TIME. “We thank our passengers for their patience and understanding while our team assisted the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to manage this incident.”
The man was detained by staff at the airport and then arrested by the AFP, who later confirmed the man was taken to hospital, where he remains currently.
“AFP officers arrested a man for alleged aggressive behaviour and breaching aircraft safety protocols on a domestic service arriving from Sydney,” an AFP spokesperson said in a statement provided to TIME.
After the remaining passengers disembarked the aircraft, some spoke to news agencies about the incident. Audrey Varghese, who was on the flight, told 10 News First Melbourne that the man exhibited strange behavior.
“He charged a few rows ahead to the emergency exit, was pushing people out of the way and shoving them, and that’s when people started screaming and then he ripped open the emergency door,” Varghese claimed.
This is not the first time in recent history that a passenger has opened up an emergency exit door to an aircraft—nor the first time they were arrested for it. In January, an Aeromexico passenger opened the emergency exit and walked on the plane’s wing—it was seemingly in response to being stuck for hours on the tarmac, reportedly without air conditioning or water for passengers. The fellow passengers even wrote a joint statement supporting the man who made the unorthodox exit.
In 2020, a female passenger pulled a similar stunt—opening up the emergency exit on a Ukraine International Airlines plane to walk on the wing.
Though the motive is currently not known for why the man at Melbourne Airport walked on the wing, AFP says they are continuing to investigate this matter, and charges are likely to be laid at a future date.
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