Etihad B773 over Indian Ocean on Feb 17th 2014, repeated arson in lavatories

An Etihad Boeing 777-300, registration A6-ETM performing flight EY-461 from Melbourne,VI (Australia) to Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), was enroute over the Indian Ocean west of Australia when the fire detectors in a lavatory in economy class triggered alarm. Smoke and flames were visible from a bin in the lavatory, cabin crew quickly extinguished and contained the small fire. About 2 hours later the fire detector of another lavatory in the economy class triggered alarm, again cabin crew needed to extinguish a small fire in the bin of that lavatory. The captain decided to divert the aircraft to Jakarta (Indonesia) where the aircraft landed safely, all passengers disembarked and were questioned by Indonesian police.

The aircraft continued the flight after about 4 hours on the ground with all passengers aboard and reached Abu Dhabi with a delay of 4:15 hours.

The airline confirmed multiple disruptions on the flight prompting the diversion to Jakarta. No arrests have been made, about a dozen passengers were detained by UAE police after arrival in Abu Dhabi however for further interviews.

Passengers reported there were sirens and flashing red lights going on and odour of smoke was noticed throughout the aircraft, with smoke visibly coming from first one then another lavatory. Breakfast service was stopped while the aircraft diverted to Jakarta. Passengers were upset about the flight being continued without the arsonist being identified and removed from the flight. Gossip amongst passengers indicated a female had set the lavatories alight.