Malaysia Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Seri Aziz Ab Kaprawi said the passenger causing the incident was inebriated.
"It is not a hijack".
Malaysian Airlines flight MH128 from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur returned to the Victorian capital shortly after take-off (11.11pm) yesterday after cabin crew alerted the captain to the disturbance.
Audio recordings have captured the moment the pilot of MH128 urgently contacted air traffic control to make an emergency landing when a passenger claiming to have a bomb tried to enter the cockpit. "He goes, "No, I'm not going to sit back down, I'm going to blow the plane up"," said Mr Leoncelli.
"Everyone on board is safe..."
Passengers said heavily-armed police personnel wearing camouflage gear and helmets entered the plane about 90 minutes after it landed and arrested the man. Passengers were not allowed to leave the plane before that.
Flight MH128 departed from Melbourne for Kuala Lumpur at 11.11 p.m. local time on Wednesday and was about 20 minutes into the journey when the incident occurred, the airline said.
The plane landed back at Melbourne just before midnight and was parked in a remote bay.
Apple expected to launch smart speaker
It's part of Apple's effort to entice professionals with tablets that can handle many tasks previously reserved for laptops. So far, the service has limited payments to purchases of products and services from companies and other organizations.
Police Superintendent Andy Langdon said the suspect appeared to have a history of mental illness.
One passenger reported that the man had yelled "I've got a bomb and I'm going to fucking blow the plane up".
Victoria Police officers arrived at Tullamarine airport at 11:55pm with the Special Operations Group and Critical Incident Response Team arriving at 12:23 pm.
"Safety and security are of utmost priority to Malaysia Airlines", the airlines said in a statement.
"Safety and security are of Malaysia Airlines' utmost priority".
He said the man ran down the plane towards the back, but was grabbed and disarmed of a black object "the size of a watermelon" which had two antennae and what appeared to be a smartphone input.
Daniel Andrews, Premier of Victoria, said he had faith in the relevant authorities to appropriately deal with situations and praised the passengers and crew for their actions. The carrier lost another aircraft when MH17 was shot down over Ukraine in 2014.
Comments