Australian duo The Veronicas are threatening legal action against Qantas bosses after they were booted off a flight over a luggage dispute.
Sisters Jessica and Lisa Origliasso were escorted off a flight from Sydney to Brisbane on Sunday morning, following a spat with cabin crew, which they claim was “incredibly intimidating and confusing”.
A Qantas spokesperson has confirmed the story, stating two passengers were “offloaded” after refusing to follow the cabin crew’s instructions.
“We are still in shock and so upset!” Jessica wrote on Instagram. “The details reported are false and in conflict with video recorded during the event and witness accounts from the flight. The incident was escalated without explanation why from the cabin staff. We co-operated with all requests from authorities and exited the aircraft.”
One fellow passenger claims the sisters asked to put a bag in an overhead locker “nicely” and shortly after an attendant told them they couldn’t, they were removed from the flight.
“Whatever happened next… plane delayed to wait for security,” the eyewitness writes on Instagram. “Then AFP (Australian Federal Police) comes on to remove them! Delayed flight for ages. They videoed whole thing so perhaps will be on their account soon. Flight just now taking off.”
Lisa and Jessica reportedly managed to board a later flight to Brisbane.
The twins returned to Instagram hours later and explained: “We actually already had our bag up in the overhead (compartment). The female flight attendant wanted Lisa’s bag spun around. Lisa asked the attendant if she could help assist her, because she couldn’t reach it (we’re only 5’1). The attendant said it was against company policy. And a lovely man behind us helped instead.
“Then right before take off, the flight attendant brought over the manger and pointed us out. He proceeded to lecture us about company policy. We listened and asked for their names. At that point they refused to give us their names, and announced they were going to call security on us. We had no idea why. That’s when we started filming! We were so confused as to why asking for their names resulted in us being removed by three Federal Police (officers).
“Such an upsetting and embarrassing experience. We still can’t believe this happened, and that the flight was delayed for so long when we had no idea what was happening… We are still shaken by it all. We don’t understand why they announced us on the plane as security risks, when we were just sitting there saying nothing… It’s so scary they can call Federal Police on people without any reason or explanation.”
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