Qantas Flight To Dallas Diverts To Tahiti After Passenger Bites Flight Attendant

Qantas flight 21 from Melbourne to Dallas-Fort Worth diverted to Tahiti on Friday to remove a passenger who bit a flight attendant. The Boeing 787-9 wound up arriving in Dallas 3 hours and 23 minutes late.

One passenger on board the aircraft even says that the disruptive man, a New Zealander, was restrained and “sedatives were administered” but those “and didn’t have an effect.” An ACARS message to the cockpit confirms the biting story, and that passengers helped take down the man.

Fa’a’a International Airport, Papeete, Tahiti

The aircraft, registered as VH-ZNB, continued its rotation and departed Dallas back for Melbourne less than 3 hours after arrival on Friday night.

LIVE: Qantas #QF21 Melbourne to Dallas (Boeing 787-9 VH-ZNB) is continuing from Tahiti after diverting due to a disruptive passenger who bit a crew member (info from ACARS via https://t.co/DldPHT6XAc ). Track: https://t.co/fbVtlrhRie

DFW webcam: https://t.co/N9WKA6eBog#avgeek pic.twitter.com/qasA2nZaxY

— Airport Webcams (@AirportWebcams) May 15, 2026

It was just March when a passenger bit a JetBlue flight attendant. Here’s a United passenger who bit his seatmate’s ear off. And here’s a Frontier passenger who bit a cop after being removed from a flight in Miami.