Man opens plane's door and walks on wing at Australian airport before he's arrested

A passenger on a Jetstar flight at Melbourne Airport in Australia has been arrested after he left the plane through an emergency exit, walked on the plane's wing and then descended the jet's engine onto the runway.

After arriving at Melbourne Airport from Sydney, Jetstar flight JQ507 was parked at a terminal gate when the man exited the plane through the right side exit, officials said.

Opening the exit automatically deployed a slide from behind the wing in the fuselage to the ground, a Jetstar statement said. But officials say the man instead walked on the wing and climbed up one of the Airbus A320's two engines.

Passenger Audrey Vargas said the passengers started screaming when they saw the man's "unusual" behavior just before he opened the hatch.

"The man was behaving very strangely," Vargas told Melbourne's 3AW radio.

Maddison, another passenger, told Nine News that the man got into an argument with the flight crew during the 90-minute flight in the morning, which was not allowed due to vape use, and demanded they give him alcohol.

A police statement said Australian Federal Police officers were alerted by Jetstar staff and arrested the man for "alleged aggressive behavior and breach of aircraft safety protocols".

He was evaluated by paramedic personnel and transported to a hospital, where he remains for further evaluation, the police statement said.

Police were still investigating and charges were likely to be filed at a later date, they said.

Melbourne Airport said the man was detained by flight crew and ground personnel before being arrested.

Images on social media showed at least three ground personnel detaining the man on the runway.

"Melbourne Airport is proud of the exceptional response from ground crews which meant there was no immediate risk to other passengers or airport personnel," a statement from Melbourne Airport said.

Speaking from the airport's baggage claim area an hour after landing, Vargas said passengers were told the slide had been deployed, delaying their unloading. He was released hours later, Nine News reported.

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