Queensland man who sparked hijack alert on Virgin flight had traces of methamphetamines

Matt Lockley (centre back) is arrested by Indonesian Air Force soldiers after landing on the Virgin Australia 737-800 plane at Ngurah Rai airport in Denpasar on the resort island of Bali on April 25, 2014. Photo: AFP

The Queensland plumber who blamed a panic attack for his attempt to raid the cockpit of Virgin flight to Bali in April actually had methamphetamines in his system.

Bali police revealed late on Friday the results of blood and urine tests conducted on Matthew Lockley after the incident in late April, which prompted a full hijack alert to be issued, and Bali airport to be closed for almost an hour.

The tests were negative for alcohol, but Bali police spokesman Hery Wiyanto told Indonesian media that traces of methamphetamines were found, though they were small.

It had probably been a while since he had taken the drugs, Mr Hery said.

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On April 27, after a weekend of questioning relating to the Friday night incident, Mr Lockley claimed hed become disoriented and had a panic attack. He said he believed the cockpit door had actually been the door to the toilet and had tried to open it.

Mr Lockley also told police the only substances hed taken were four Panadol tables, two Voltaren and two Coca Colas at Brisbane airport before boarding flight VA41 to Bali.

But what Mr Lockley described as a huge misunderstanding prompted a hijack alert from the cabin, which led to a full police and military response at Bali airport. The aircraft was parked on an apron distant from the terminal and an armed team raided the plane to pull Lockley off.

The airport was closed for an hour at one of the busiest times of the week, inconveniencing perhaps hundreds of thousands of people, according to aviation consultant Gerry Soejatman.

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Queensland man who sparked hijack alert on Virgin flight had traces of methamphetamines