Brian McFadden says he was comforting baby on flight, not running amok
- From: The Daily Telegraph
- February 18, 2011
BRIAN McFadden says he was comforting a crying baby on the flight from Los Angles to Sydney that he is alleged to have disrupted.
A croaky-sounding McFadden took to the 2DAY FM airwaves in Sydney this morning with brother-in-arms Kyle Sandilands, with both launching an attack on reports of his mid-flight misbehaviour and "leaks'' within Virgin Airlines.
McFadden denied he was smoking onboard the flight or running amok.
Instead he claims he was simply putting his father-of-two skills to use by comforting a crying baby.
McFadden says the flight from LA was delayed three hours in which time he met a young mum.
He says during the flight he heard the baby screaming while most of the other passengers were sleeping and the only reason he ventured into the economy section was to help.
"I just sat down with the baby and put on some cartoons,'' he said.
Sandilands again came to his mate's defence, denying they had been questioned in detail by police.
"We were never detained... the discussion (with police) was 20 seconds''.
Sandilands said the only way news of the incident got out was "some leak somewhere'' within the airline.
McFadden signed off by saying he can't wait to be in the studio on Monday to talk about his new single. A different account of the incident emerged yesterday.
Sandilands and McFadden were toasting their return to start auditions for Australia's Got Talent and Irish crooner McFadden's tipple of choice was a vodka mixer. It was all good fun, until things turned serious.
Flight attendants apparently became aware of the smell of cigarette smoke wafting through the aircraft.
No alarms were set off but they were certain someone, against regulations, had been smoking in the lavatory.
An "aggressive" conversation then ensued between McFadden, Sandilands and the flight crew, with repeated denials from the former Westlife singer that he was the culprit. Sandilands backed his buddy, exclaiming "there is no way" McFadden would smoke on a plane.
"They were arguing, a lot of us heard it," Ryan, an economy passenger from Camperdown, said.
Standard protocol was followed by the cabin crew and Sydney Airport was radioed and told there had been an incident with two passengers.
"Smoking, aggressive behaviour and not following the orders of staff," was the initial brief relayed to the Australian Federal Police, who were waiting at the gate when the plane touched down at 8.30am. McFadden and Sandilands were escorted off the aircraft and interviewed.
They were released a short time later and left the terminal in a waiting hire car.
"No formal complaint was raised by the airline carrier. As a result, the men were released without charge and no further action will be taken," the AFP later said.
McFadden yesterday took to Twitter to state his case.
"Wasn't arrested! didn't smoke on the flight. and the virgin staff were very nice. i did have a few drinks but i was not smashed and abusive ... storm in a tea cup," he wrote.
Virgin later released a statement, saying: "We did have an incident on board with a guest and we had the AFP meet us off the flight. The matter is now in their hands."
