Authorities in Australia arrested a passenger on Thursday after he exited a stationary airplane through an emergency exit, walked along a wing, and then climbed down a jet engine to the tarmac.
Jetstar Flight JQ507 arrived at Melbourne Airport from Sydney at around 10 a.m. local time. The incident occurred while the plane was parked at the gate. A Jetstar spokesperson said that the passenger opened the emergency exit, which automatically deployed the slide.
“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.”
Airport staff detained the man before he was arrested by the AFP. The AFP later confirmed that the man was taken to a 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, stated 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, a 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 passenger opened 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.
