"If he is sent back to Sri Lanka, he is likely to be imprisoned and tortured," she said. Puvaneethan was being flown from Melbourne to Darwin possibly en route to Sri Lanka, according to the Tamil Refugee Council. He has since returned to the Melbourne Immigration Detention Centre. Ms Pilbrow had not checked her email and only found out about the ban after reading a story published on Fairfax Media last Tuesday about her and two other passengers, 51-year-old Paul Leary and his colleague, who were also travelling on the plane. "I tried to follow up on the ban but there was no number for me to call. When I called Qantas headquarters they sent me to customer service who told me to fill out a form if I had a complaint about the ban," Ms Pilbrow said. "Communication at Qantas needs to be fixed up."

While Ms Pilbrow was unhappy at the way Qantas communicated the ban to her, she said it was unfair the other two passengers, who were not part of the protest, were banned too. Mr Leary has since filed a complaint with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal's human rights division on the grounds the ban discriminates against him on the basis of his political belief. Mr Leary and his colleague had asked to leave the plane because they were not comfortable with Puvaneethan's treatment. "This occurred in the most polite way that you could - by standing up, pressing the call button and getting a Qantas steward to come over," he said. He said they at no point tried to disrupt or delay the flight and were not directed to leave the plane.

Mr Leary then found out he was subject to a no-fly ban and a security review when he was returning from Darwin after travelling there on a different airline. The flight ban on the three passengers applies to all Qantas or Jetstar flights as well as any codeshare flights operated by other airlines, such as Emirates. Both Ms Pilbrow and Mr Leary's Frequent Flyer memberships have also been suspended. Qantas' terms of carriage stated it could refuse to carry passengers. A Qantas spokeswoman said a temporary no-fly ban has been issued to the three passengers while the Australian Federal Police is investigating the incident.

"The AFP is investigating this matter so it would be inappropriate for us to comment. The temporary no-fly ban will remain in place until the AFP's investigations are finalised," the spokeswoman said.



"However it's fair to say that the aisle of an aircraft is not the same as a town square. All airlines have clear rules about the need to follow crew instructions at all times, and no-fly bans show how seriously this is taken." The police came on board during the protest on February 2 and escorted both Ms Pilbrow and the Tamil refugee off the plane. The police searched Ms Pilbrow and told her she would be facing fines but would not be charged. When she learnt of the ban from Qantas, she rang the federal police who requested she attend an interview on March 10. "Police are continuing with their enquiries. As this matter is ongoing it is not appropriate to comment further," an AFP spokesperson said.

Ms Pilbrow is seeking legal advice.