Flight delays cause headache for police

Fed-up police are being called to Port Hedland airport on a weekly basis to deal with drunk and disorderly passengers.

The revelation follows the most recent incident on Saturday night when a 31-year-old man was arrested after he refused to disembark a Qantas aircraft.

The passenger was charged with one count of disorderly behaviour, two counts of obstructing police, and will be issued with an aviation infringement notice.

Qantas staff called police after the man fell on the steps of the plane and pushed past cabin crew in an attempt to find his seat aboard QF 1817, even though he was denied boarding.

The man refused to leave with police and was eventually escorted off airport premises and taken to South Hedland Police Station.

The Perth-bound flight had already been delayed more than three hours and Qantas staff said the drunken behaviour of the man forced the flight and its 62 passengers to be postponed a further 10 minutes.

Port Hedland police sergeant Jason Gentili said the incident was not a one-off as officers had been called numerous times to deal with drunken passengers following flight delays at the airport.

“The airport is in such a state now that they ring for us whenever there is a late boarding,” he said.

“People need to be responsible for their actions, but also their staff need to be doing their job properly and they’re not.”

Sgt Gentili said mining companies needed to take responsibility for their fly-in, fly-out staff.

“Instead of industry going and picking their staff up and taking them back to their camp, they leave them at the airport and this is what happens,” he said.

The aviation infringement notice could see the man banned from all Qantas flights for up to 12 months.