Man restrained on Qantas flight after death threats

Qantas staff had to restrain a man after he became "disruptive" on a flight to Hong Kong, the Australian airline said Thursday, with passengers claiming he made threats to kill others and himself.

"We are confirming that on QF29, from Melbourne to Hong Kong, a disruptive passenger was restrained," an airline spokeswoman told AFP.

"Our cabin crew are trained to deal with such situations and did so accordingly."

The flight was met by Hong Kong authorities and the man was taken into custody, she said, adding that it was now a "police matter" and no further comment could be made.

One passenger told Sky News that the man started "running around" and saying he was going to kill himself and the rest of those on board by opening the door because it was "God's will".

The man was understood to have ignored a number of directions from the crew and was sectioned off from other passengers under staff guard until the end of the flight. He was not violent and no passengers were reported to be harmed.

The flight set off shortly before midnight (1100 GMT Thursday) and the man became agitated about four hours after takeoff, Qantas said.

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