Qantas has slapped an unruly passenger with a lifetime travel ban after he reportedly became violent on a flight across the Pacific, including biting a flight attendant.

Flight QF21 from Melbourne to Dallas-Fort Worth last Friday was diverted to Tahiti so the traveller could be removed after the mid-flight fracas.

According to reports and social media footage, he appeared to be drunk. Video circulating from the flight appears to show him arguing aggressively with other passengers and cabin crew.

Comedian Mike Goldstein shared footage that appears to show the man stumbling from an aircraft restroom while fastening his belt.

He is approached by staff, who can be heard repeatedly speaking to him – including one memorable moment when one flight attendant tells the man he is “carrying on like a two-bob watch”.

“We need you to behave yourself,” the attendant says.

“Bro I was just about to walk out for a cigarette,” the passenger can be heard saying.

“Put that wrist lock off me again, there’s problems.”

Another passenger on board reported the man was restrained and “sedatives were administered” although they “didn’t have an effect”.

Eventually the plane diverted to Papeete where the unruly traveller was offloaded. Local police met the flight – Goldstein’s video shows them aboard the plane.

Qantas said the passenger – reported by multiple outlets on both sides of the Tasman to be New Zealand-born – had been slapped with a no-fly ban.

“The safety of our customers and our crew is our No.1 priority and we have zero tolerance for disruptive or threatening behaviour on our flights,” a spokesperson said.

The plane was refuelled and resumed its journey. It arrived in Dallas on Saturday morning, more than three hours late.

How the troublesome passenger will get home from Tahiti has not been revealed. Air Tahiti and Air New Zealand both fly between the French island nation and Melbourne.

The Melbourne-Dallas route is one of Qantas’s longest, crossing vast stretches of the Pacific with few diversion options. Safety protocols require immediate intervention when crew face physical aggression, and Papeete provided a suitable location for security response.

The weekend incident is just the latest in violent clashes in-flight. They include similar scenes in March when a passenger on a JetBlue flight in the US bit an attendant while trying to rush the cockpit.

Last April, meanwhile, there was an ugly brawl aboard a Jetstar flight from Bali to Melbourne over a reclined seat. Two days after that, there was another incident aboard a Jetstar flight to Bali when a passenger tried to open the cabin door at 33,000 feet (10,000 metres).

In 2021, a passenger aboard a domestic United flight in the US bit off his seatmate’s ear. In 2023, a Frontier Airlines traveller bit a police officer in a clash after she refused a request to leave a plane bound for Philadelphia.