Man removed from flight over notebook doodles

Man removed from Tiger Airways flight over 'terror doodles'

A Melbourne man was removed from a Tiger Airways flight on Saturday after a fellow passenger complained about what he was writing in his notebook.

Oliver Buckworth, 28, an interior designer, was doodling and writing sentences satirising the current terrorism threat on a Gold Coast-bound flight when a fellow passenger spotted it and complained to a member of the cabin crew.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, one of the comments read: "In a land of melting ice-creams, sandy feet and fluffy bears, how could anyone be fearful of terrorism.

Another doodle in Buckworth's notebook included a sketch of a chandelier; the phrase "Terrorismadeup"; and a cartoon of a child clutching his head with a thought bubble saying: "Tyrannosaurus Rex. Terodactyl. Tarantula. Terrorist."

Tiger Airways notified the Australian Federal Police (AFP), who removed Mr Buckworth. He was then interviewed and subsequently released.

Mr Buckworth told the site: "The irony is I was writing a sentence about the absurdity of the fearmongering when we live in such a happy country of ice-cream and beaches and fluffy things."

The threat of terrorism has been a talking point in Australia this week. According to the Guardian, on Thursday police carried out dawn raids in Sydney and Brisbane, which the country's prime minister, Tony Abbott, said were necessary to prevent imminent and random "demonstration killings" by Islamic militants.

Abbott is a supporter of US air strikes against Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq.

A spokeswoman for Tiger said: "Tigerair has a zero-tolerance policy towards inappropriate and antisocial behaviour. Safety and security of staff and passengers underpins the operation at all times and is never compromised."