Bad weather has caused chaos at Perth airport with planes unable to offload due to safety rules which restrict ground staff movement in case of lightning.
A Perth airport spokesperson said 17 aircraft – both incoming and outgoing – had been stranded by the weather on the tarmac.
The weather-related issues were exacerbated when a member of the public let off pepper spray in a toilet in the international terminal.
Operations inside the terminal remained as normal despite the pepper spray incident.
The bad weather is expected to continue and the airport was uncertain as to whether a break in conditions would allow it to offload passengers from planes which had, according to radio station 6PR, been on the tarmac since 10am in at least one case.
“The issue is around safety of the airport staff with the lightning and the storms,” a spokesperson said.