Australian woman fined $500 after disruptive incident on Fiji Airways flight

Australian woman fined $500 after disruptive incident on Fiji Airways flight

By Rashika Kumar
Saturday 25/01/2025

The Australian woman who caused a ruckus on a Fiji Airways flight from San Francisco to Nadi on Monday, has been fined $500, and had to be restrained and had her mouth duct-taped by flight attendants.

Police say she was intoxicated and causing a nuisance to passengers.

A passenger who filmed the altercation and requested to remain anonymous told news.com.au that airline staff were “forced to resort to restraining and taping the mouth” of the woman, whose comments were allegedly “racist and vulgar” in nature.

69-year-old Stephanie Alesandra Bank, from Adelaide, Australia, was charged with one count of being an unruly passenger under the Civil Aviation Act and was kept in custody before her appearance in the Nadi Magistrates Court on Thursday.

She was penalised and granted bail with a $1,000 cash bond, while a stop departure order was issued.

Bank appeared in court again yesterday, where she paid her fine, and the stop departure order was lifted.

The case has now been discharged.

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