Snacky

EY says:

"Ethiad Airways flight EY461 from Melbourne to Abu Dhabi on Monday 17 February has landed safely in Abu Dhabi after a series of events that disrupted the flight. Police in Abu Dhabi are now working to investigate the events by interviewing employees and passengers. We'll be back with more details when we know more."

Apparently (these are unconfirmed reports), there were multiple fires instigated in different places on the aircraft, including several wastecontainers in some of the toilets. The unconfirmed reports also state that the aircraft made an emergency landing in Jakarta, where all passengers were commanded off the plane and thouroughly searched and questioned. Airport authorities however were not able to isolate a suspect, and had no choice but to let the passengers board the plane again, to continue towards the final destination of Abu Dhabi. Scarily enough for the poor passengers, more fires were set (but luckily discovered in time), even after the aircraft had left from Jakarta, and despite the efforts of assigned guards who had boarded to monitor the aircraft cabin and toilets, to prevent any further incidents. All fires were successfully put out by the crew after they had been discovered, and the unofficial reports finally state that a young girl in her twenties has been arrested by the police in Abu Dhabi and taken away for further questioning.

Original newsflash (translated by Google Translate):
http://translate.google.com/translat...ama-1.11552193

Check out one of the passenger's (a norwegian female pro golfer) Instagram profile for an eyewitness account:
http://instagram.com/p/kjQJMsoTQ0/


Snacky

Snacky

Another source confirms that "incidents" indeed have occured:
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/em...ents-1.1292836


Snacky

Snacky

More details:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/trav...-1226831400670
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/...t-to-abu-dhabi
http://www.fireengineering.com/ap-ne...on-flight.html
http://www.dubaieye1038.com/abu-dhab...ihad-incident/
http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-...219-32z8e.html
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/video/fires...070514245.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-1...bourne/5270048
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/etiha...es-539494.html
http://www.emirates247.com/news/emir...02-19-1.538830
http://www.nst.com.my/latest/smoke-s...light-1.487900
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-1...bourne/5270048
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-0...in-toilet.html
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...d/1003410.html


Snacky

m0hamed

Very scary for those on board. They landed safe and sound, thankfully.

Snacky

CNN now has a more comprehensive report:
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/19/tr...fires-jakarta/

And more:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...ted-in-toilets


Snacky

pandoraone

Wow scary

Snacky

12 passengers have been detained by Abu Dhabi authorities, following the fire incidents on EY461 MEL-AUH monday:
http://www.financialexpress.com/news...flight/1227532


Snacky

EFATO

wow. thanks for the info.

hope the culprit is amongst the 12 detained. that detention in AUH has got to be pretty harsh, especially for the innocent ones...

just had a chat to EY ground staff in AMS who hadn't been informed about this yet.

btw., i'm quite tempted to go on twitter right now and slap @TraceylLee who complained she didn't get a meal service:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/trav...-1226831400670

If i get her logic right she'd rather be dead at the bottom of the indian ocean with a microwaved economy class airplane meal her stomach than still around to blurt out ........ on twitter?

moron. put her on a no-fly list.

EFATO

Seems aforementioned @Traceyllee has taken down her twitter account. Last trace of her on Google has her tagline as "It is not the length of life, but the depth . Melbourne, Australia."

Yeah, an airplane meal in the stomach and the depth of the Indian Ocean to consider it in.

Snacky

I'm sure Ms. Lee's feeling of humiliation must be excruciating right now. A(nother) lesson learned I hope, for her own sake


Snacky

pinniped

Well, she's probably a Flyertalker.

"Flight delayed by arsonist...how many miles in compensation should I receive?!?!"

MtlChris

Although I might not be picking up on your sarcasm, I will suggest there's much better use to be made of no-fly lists than listing people you consider moronic based on a twitter post.

gooseman13

Otherwise the world's airline industry may go out of business.

Snacky

As a final note, the norwegian pro golfer has finally made it home, safe and sound, now consoling herself with some well-deserved heart-shaped norwegian specialty chocolates, presumably picked up (relatively) cheaply at the OSL tax-free shop

http://instagram.com/p/kmXyv6oTfS/


Snacky

SoCal

If all passengers had been detained at the first stop until a thorough police investigation had been investigated (as probably should have happened), you can imagine the complaints from passengers: "I'm an innocent passenger, and yet I had to have my flight trip delayed . . ."

I can still remember flying when smoking was permitted, and still see an occasional complaint that it's not. Some airlines used to permit passengers to cook in the aisles. Maybe Tracy would have liked that.