---

http://images.smh.com.au/2012/10/30/...ff-620x349.jpg Angry passengers have held a Jetstar crew hostage after a flight delay in China. Jetstar A330

A JETSTAR pilot and crew were held hostage for more than six hours by a mob of angry passengers after their flight was diverted from Beijing to Shanghai because of bad weather.
The experienced Australian pilot is being hailed a hero for his calm actions after being confronted by the angry passengers as they disembarked at Shanghai's Pudong Airport.
Upset at the delay and fearful that they would be abandoned and left to find their own way to Beijing, the passengers bailed them up inside a section of the arrivals area and refused to let them leave.
The A330-200 flight, which originated in Melbourne and picked up passengers in Singapore, was flying Australian and Chinese nationals to Beijing, when it was forced to land at Shanghai on Friday.


Trouble erupted after Jetstar staff told passengers of the delay and offered them a hotel for the day and later flights once the fog that closed Beijing Airport had lifted and the Jetstar crew - who had flown over their hours - were replaced.
The cabin manager on the Jetstar flight spoke fluent Mandarin and was able to communicate with the Chinese passengers. The ground staff for Jetstar at Shanghai were also fluent in Mandarin.
But it is understood the passengers did not trust the promises of the crew and refused to let the captain and crew leave.
The Chinese police were called in and passengers and Jetstar officials also contacted the Australian Embassy in Shanghai for help.
After tense negotiations, the pilot managed to get some of the crew released, but he stayed to continue to calm down the passengers and make alternative arrangements for their travel. Some were put onto trains to complete their journey and others onto different flights.
A spokeswoman for Jetstar said that due to heavy fog in Beijing last Friday, Jetstar flight JQ7 from Singapore to Beijing was diverted.
"Due to the unscheduled landing, there was a delay in arranging customs and immigration processing for our passengers which resulted in our crew exceeding their flying hours," she said.
"Our Captain and crew assisted passengers in a calm and professional manner in what was a difficult situation for all involved."
A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the incident took place in the Customs and Immigration Hall of the airport.
She confirmed that they had been contacted for assistance.
"The Australian Consulate in Shanghai contacted Shanghai Public Security authorities and Jetstar management to confirm the welfare of all Australian passengers and crew," she said.
"An Australian consular officer also spoke to the Australian flight captain to offer consular assistance. The captain confirmed that he and his crew and passengers were safe, " the spokeswoman said.
It is not the first time passengers have staged a revolt at Shanghai airport after a flight was delayed.
The incident on Friday echoed another in July this year when more than 200 United Airlines passengers, who were stranded for three days, staged an angry revolt threatening violence against airline staff.
That flight, which was due to fly from Shanghai to Newark, was three days late because of cancellations and a crew who were timed out had flown over their allowed hours.
In that incident, passengers told the media that they became so angry and frustrated that people just started screaming and rushed at the pilots.

---

---

A PASSENGER has told of the extraordinary scenes as Chinese security officials stood by while angry passengers confronted the crew of a Jetstar flight.

---

---

He said when passengers saw the captain and crew trying to leave, they ran over to them.

“They had them bailed up against a wall with a semi-circle of people around them,” Mr Johnson said.

“The captain was being assaulted. They were preventing him from leaving, physically restraining him and trying to take his bags away.”

---

---

Decoy? According to Singapore it didn't happen?

Ask the crew about the injuries they received, ask the captain to show you his bruises.

It happened.

---

---

http://images.smh.com.au/2012/10/31/...nson-300x0.jpg Alastair Johnson

Security, immigration and customs officers at Shanghai Airport stood by and watched as a mob of angry passengers assaulted an Australian Jetstar pilot and crew they had surrounded and held hostage, after their plane was diverted due to bad weather.
In what one passenger described as unbelievable scenes, no-one came to the aid of the pilot who was bailed up against a wall and being physically restrained by the passengers.
Alastair Johnson, who was on the flight, said he tried to intervene to stop the mob assaulting the pilot. But when he asked the nearby officials to call the police they told him to call the police himself.
Fairfax has been unable to contact the Chinese Embassy in Canberra for comment.
Advertisement
The A330-200 flight which originated in Melbourne and picked up passengers in Singapore was flying Australian, US and Chinese nationals to Beijing on Friday.
Mr Johnson, a product manager for the telco supplier, Alcatel-Lucent, was on his way to a conference in Beijing when fog forced the plane to divert and land at Shanghai's Pudong Airport.
He said the plane landed early in the morning and the passengers remained on board for a couple of hours while it was decided what action to take.
He said the situation was testy but calm on board with Jetstar crew keeping everyone up to date on developments, but the situation soon escalated once they got off.
Mr Johnson said they headed into the terminal and Jetstar staff divided the passengers into groups, those who had to get to Beijing urgently, those who could wait until the Jetstar pilot and crew, who were over their legal flying hours limit, could continue to fly the plane and those who wanted to return to Singapore.
But that was when things really started to go wrong and the passengers became "extremely obnoxious". He said the ground crew were extremely passive and patient.
At one stage, Mr Johnson said that 150 passengers were shouting at one crew member who was just taking it.
"Then suddenly a bunch of people ran away so I went to see where they went," Mr Johnson told Fairfax.
"They had seen the captain and the flight crew who were trying to get their bags and leave.
"They had them bailed up against a wall with a semi-circle of people around them."
The captain, first officer and cabin crew were in the semi-circle.
"The captain was being assaulted. They were preventing him from leaving, physically restraining him and trying to take his bags away."
Mr Johnson said the captain was very calm and kept saying to them "these actions are not going to help".
All the while the uproar was being ignored by airport officials. He said not a single one came to help or called police despite Mr Johnson asking them to.
"For the crew I think it was pretty scary. But the captain remained calm, even though he wasn't happy about it - about being physically handled.


Read more: Jetstar Hostage Drama | Shanghai's Pudong Airport | No Help For Crew

---