Pop singers The Veronicas have threatened legal action after they were removed from a Qantas flight over an “incredibly intimidating and confusing” baggage drama.
Jessica and Lisa Origliasso were asked to leave Qantas QF516, flying from Sydney to Brisbane on Sunday, after an alleged argument with cabin crew.
Qantas said two passengers refused to follow the cabin crew’s instructions.
“After boarding, two passengers refused to follow crew instructions and were offloaded,” the airline said in a statement.
Australian federal police officers then boarded amid an argument between the two passengers and staff. The singers agreed to disembark, with no further issues.
One passenger told the Courier-Mail that the singers were “belligerent” and “refused to follow crew instructions”.
Qantas plane incident was ‘an upsetting and embarrassing experience’
But the Brisbane-born identical twin sisters have hit back at the “incredibly intimidating and confusing” incident.
“The details reported are false and in conflict with video recorded during the event and witness accounts from the flight,” they said on Instagram.
“The incident was escalated without explanation why from the cabin staff.
“We cooperated with all requests from authorities and exited the aircraft.
The pair said they were “pursuing legal action” over “the incident and resulting media reports”.
Qantas said that the flight ended up taking off 45 minutes late. The Veronicas flew to Brisbane on a later flight.
Earlier, Jess and Lisa commented on a post from another passenger, calling the event “an upsetting and embarrassing experience”.
“We actually already had our bag up in the overhead,” they wrote.
“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 bought over the manager and pointed us out. He proceeded to lecture us about company policy.”
‘We’re still in shock and so upset’
After this, the staff refused to give the duo their names and threatened to call security, The Veronicas claimed.
“We were so confused as to why asking for their names resulted in us being removed by three federal police,” the pair wrote on Instagram.
“We are still in shock and so upset… It’s so scary they can call federal police on people without any reason or explanation.”
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