Qantas passenger booted off plane and slapped with ban after altercation with flight attendant: 'Behave yourself'

By KARLEIGH SMITH, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 03:37, 17 May 2026 | Updated: 03:55, 17 May 2026 A passenger was kicked off a Qantas flight after a confrontation outside a bathroom escalated during the long-haul journey. The man, believed to be a New Zealander, was on board an 18-hour flight from Melbourne to Dallas when he allegedly caused a disturbance. QF21 was forced to divert to Tahiti, where the passenger was arrested and jailed in the capital, Papeete. In a statement to Daily Mail, Qantas confirmed the man has now been banned from flying on its aircraft. Video of the altercation, captured by American comedian and The Hundred with Andy Lee star Mike Goldstein, showed the man exiting a toilet and slurring to a clearly exasperated flight attendant that he 'was just about to walk out for a cigarette'. The flight attendant warned him to 'Behave yourself. There are kids everywhere'. Bizarrely, the man then asked the flight attendant if he was 'smoking weed'. Do you know more? Email karleigh.smith@dailymail.com.au  Qantas has confirmed the passenger has been banned from their aircraft The man's outburst forced the aircraft to divert to Tahiti, where he was arrested As the attendant attempted to escort the man back to his seat, he could be heard saying, 'Fk off, ct'. The flight attendant said: 'If you don't behave yourself, we'll have to restrain you. And once you're restrained, you're restrained for the whole trip. 'Watch your language... You're carrying on like a bloody two-bob watch'. A second man stepped in to physically restrain him and said he was being taken to sit at the back of the plane. The man responded, 'I was just taking a p**s'. In Mr Goldstein's footage, the man could be seen lying face-down at the back of the aircraft after it landed in Papeete. He said the diversion added three hours to the journey, and many passengers missed their connecting flights after arriving in Dallas, Texas, on Saturday morning local time. In a statement to Daily Mail, a Qantas spokesperson 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'. A no-nonsense flight attendant warned the man to watch his language 'We're grateful to our crew and other passengers who assisted during the incident. 'The aircraft was refuelled and customers continued on their journey to Dallas, arriving Saturday morning. 'The passenger was issued a no fly ban on Qantas Group aircraft.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.