A 35 year old “well dressed businessman” was arrested yesterday when he refused to turn off his laptop for the final approach of his Qantas flight. The passenger was on board flight QF418 from Melbourne to Sydney and apparently found whatever he was doing on his laptop to be more important than listening to flight attendant requests.
Upon landing, all passengers were told to stay seated while the Australian counter terrorist first response force arrived, taking the man into custody.
Witnesses report seeing the man being interrogated by 6 armed police officers in the airport terminal, but he was later released with no charges filed against him.
The only statement Qantas made, was that a male passenger had failed to comply with a captain’s directive. Let this be a lesson to everyone; listen to the flight attendant, and turn off your laptop when you are told to. There may be no evidence to confirm that a laptop will interfere with flight controls, but a 4 pound laptop can become a cabin projectile when the aircraft touches down.