A Qantas flight from Perth to London was forced to turn around about two hours after take-off last night because of a disruptive male passenger, described by a fellow traveller as “hyper aggressive, like a cornered animal”.

The 787 took off from Perth at 7.03pm and was due to land at 10.54pm London time.

Qantas said Australian Federal Police boarded the plane and removed the passenger after the flight landed back in Perth at 10.32pm.

The Flight Tracker app showed flight QF9 turning around north of Shark Bay. The flight usually takes 17 hours and 20 minutes.

Camera Icon QF9 on its way back to Perth. Credit: Flight Radar

One passenger said the man appeared “incredibly agitated” and his behaviour was “hyper aggressive, like a cornered animal”.

He said the man had walked to or toward the bathroom in the middle of the cabin and went to sit back down again.

“Whatever happened next he was suddenly standing up and shouting and pointing in an extremely aggressive manner,” he said.

“I wasn’t sure what he was saying. Passengers leapt in to control him, Qantas staff tried to calm him. He was eventually marched down the back of the plane.

“He was by this time highly, highly wound up.”

He praised Qantas staff for controlling the passenger and keeping everyone on board calm during ordeal.

The incident caused big delays for passengers, with Qantas saying returning to Perth had pushed crew over their duty limits and the flight would not leave Perth until noon today.

“This type of disruption inconveniences our customers, but we take a zero tolerance approach to disruptive behaviour on board,” Qantas said.

“We have provided customers with overnight accommodation and will have them on their way as soon as possible.

“We apologise for the inconvenience and thank our customers for their patience.”