A MAN who threatened to kill "everyone" on board a Qantas flight was unhappy with his economy seat.

Passengers on Qantas flight QF029 said the Israeli man threatened to kill everyone by opening the door mid-flight.



The saga began when the 23-year-old became upset with his seat, a passenger sitting in front of him said.



"He asked to be moved to business class because he wasn't happy with sitting in economy," David Peace said.



"Then he requested to sit with the pilot on the flight deck.



"When that was refused, he said he was going to open the door and get off."



Mr Peace, who was travelling from Melbourne to London for a holiday, said the man never attempted to open the door.



"As soon as he said he wanted to get off he was handcuffed and moved to a secure capsule in the staff area," he said.



"He was being unco-operative and agitated.



"There was very little drama and the staff responded very quickly."

Hong Kong Police confirmed they received a request from the Qantas flight for assistance yesterday morning.

"The 23-year-old Israeli male passenger, surnamed Ariel, became 'emotional' after complaining about the food and other services," a police spokesman told AFP.

Police said they would not charge the man as he did not cause any damage or harm other passengers.

The man is currently under medical observation at a Hong Kong hospital, the spokesman said.

Most passengers on the Melbourne to Hong Kong flight which landed at London's Heathrow overnight said they slept through the event.



"We had no idea until we saw all the police board the plane," Kay Semmler, of Adelaide, said.



"It is concerning now we know someone tried to bring the plane down."



Julie Brocley, 30, who was travelling to a wedding, said she slept through the saga.



"All I saw was a guy with no shirt on and plenty of police," she said.



"Then a friend sent me a text saying some guy tried to kill everyone."

Yesterday, a passenger named Helen told the the Herald Sun that a staff member, who was calming passengers, told them that the man began praying in a another language, which she thought was Hebrew.

"It will be what God wants. I'm going to open the door,'' he reportedly yelled.

LISTEN NOW: Passenger Helen describes the in-flight drama



A Melbourne dad, who was flying to Hong Kong to spend time with his daughter, was seated behind the man when he threatened to open the emergency door,



His daughter, Jacqui Streets, said the crew asked her dad to keep on eye on the restrained man and the door for the duration of the flight.



"He said it was definitely unnerving, but by the end of the flight - rather than thinking it was a terrorist - he thought it someone just out to hurt himself or intellectually disabled,'' she said.



"The Qantas staff handled it really well, if you weren't in the vicinity you probably wouldn't even have know it was happening."



Her father was upgraded to first-class for the final hour of the flight.



A flight attendant reassured the 280 passengers that the man would not be allowed to board the flight to London.



The attendant told passengers she had never had encountered an incident in 15 years service.



A Qantas spokeswoman confirmed that there was an incident on the Melbourne-Hong Kong leg where "a passenger became disruptive.''



She said cabin crew were trained and equipped to deal with these types of situations.









Originally published as Unhappy passenger sparks flight panic