A DRUNKEN passenger allegedly bit a crew member in a mid-air “rampage” on a flight from Melbourne to Dallas.
The brazen brawl forced the long-haul Qantas flight to divert and touch down on the rainforest island of Tahiti.
The passenger was booted off the plane and arrested by local authorities, before being permanently barred from flying with airline Qantas.
The row reportedly started when one passenger reclined their seat back into the person behind them – prompting that second passenger to put them in a chokehold.
The unexpected strangulation woke up the passenger and that’s when “the rampage started”, according to comedian Mike Goldstein who witnessed the mid-flight scuffle.
He posted a video of the incident to his Instagram, saying: “A drunk guy on my long haul flight (Melbourne to Dallas) kept trying to step out for a cig. Decided it was best to drop him off at a jail in Tahiti.”
He joked that he was “loving the in-flight entertainment”.
In the video, the belligerent passenger can be heard telling one crew member to “f*** off c***”.
The row added about three hours to the journey and many missed their connecting flights.
The bitten crew member did not sustain serious injuries.
A spokesperson from Qantas said: “The safety of our customers and our crew is our number one priority and we have zero tolerance for disruptive or threatening behaviour on our flights”.
Unfortunately fights on flights are a common occurrance – and often fuelled by booze.
Earlier this month a woman allegedly swigged vodka and then spat in holidaymaker’s face on an EasyJet flight to Turkey.
Shocking footage shows the passenger – believed to be a Brit – lunge across the aisle as fellow holidaymakers look on in disbelief.
The scuffle forced the flight to land 650 miles away from its destination in Antalya.