Lockley returns home after Virgin Air ‘buzz’

DENPASAR. Matt Christopher Lockley, 27, the unruly Australian passenger on a Virgin Australia flight who triggered a hijack alert at Ngurah Rai International Airport on Friday, finally returned to Australia on Monday. 

Lockey was flying home aboard Virgin Australia flight VA 044 to Brisbane, which was scheduled to depart at 3:55 p.m. but was delayed for 50 minutes.

Clad in a casual blue T-shirt, white shorts and sandals, he was escorted by airport authority officials, immigration officers, civil investigators from the Transportation Ministry, as well as Australian Federal Police (AFP) personnel in plain clothes.

Before heading to the airport gate, Lockley said “thank you” to the investigators while shaking hands with them in front of the departure gate.

Lockley had expressed his thanks for the close cooperation between the Indonesian and Australian governments in handling his case, said Rudi Ricardo, head of the Transportation Ministry’s civil servant investigators and flight security personnel.

Lockley decided to fly home voluntarily after facing seven hours of questioning Sunday at Bali Police’s special crimes directorate. Accompanied by his sister and a friend, as well as staff from the Australian consulate general, he was questioned by the ministry’s investigator team led by Rudi.

“I just wanted to say that this was a huge misunderstanding. I had a panic attack and I just wanted to use the toilet and by accident I knocked on the cockpit door,” Lockley told journalists after being questioned.

Lockley also praised all the efforts made by the Indonesian government. “I want to say thank you to the Indonesian police and authorities. They have only followed procedures and they have provided me with a lot of care and support. I am very grateful for everything they have done,” he added.

After undergoing hours of questioning, the Indonesian aviation authority finally allowed Lockley to return to Brisbane. Lockley could not be charged under Indonesian Aviation Law, which carries a maximum of two years’ imprisonment or a fine of Rp 500 million (US$43,200) for those who jeopardize flights.

Meanwhile, Indonesia has ratified the 1963 Tokyo Convention, which applies to acts jeopardizing the safety of persons or property on board civilian aircraft while in flight and in international airspace, that states that criminal jurisdiction rests with the person’s country of origin.

The Indonesian authorities, however, still conducted an investigation to uncover the motive for the incident. “As we know, under the 1963 Tokyo Convention, there is an obligation to conduct the initial investigation and we notified Australia of the results,” Rudi said.

Rudi refused to give details about Lockley’s statements to the investigators, saying only that Lockley had told investigators that he had suffered a panic attack and knocked on the cockpit door as he thought it was the toilet door.