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A 45-year-old man has been charged by police after he allegedly told passengers on a Malaysia Airlines flight out of Sydney Airport that he was carrying a bomb.
Flight MH122 departed Sydney at 1.06pm on Monday but turned back while over the north-west of NSW after passengers reported that a man on board had become aggressive. The plane landed at 3.47pm and was stuck on the tarmac for three hours as Australian Federal Police responded.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH122 sits on the runway at Sydney Airport and the man alleged to have made the threats, inset.Credit: Nine News, Supplied
The Canberra man was arrested and, on Tuesday morning, the AFP said he had been formally charged with one count of making a false statement about a threat to damage a division 3 aircraft, and one count of a passenger not complying with cabin crew’s safety instructions. He was refused bail and is due to appear before Downing Centre Court on Tuesday.
“During the flight, a male passenger allegedly became disruptive and claimed to have explosives on board,” the federal police said.
The offences carry a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of more than $15,000 respectively, the police said.
Edo Kahn was a passenger on board the Airbus A330 and told Ben Fordham on 2GB the man began praying loudly when the flight took off before it escalated into a “pretty scary” situation.
Passengers disembark from Malaysia Airlines flight MH122.Credit: @chzaib/@jawadmnazir
“As the flight was taking off he started praying really loudly, you know, God is great in Arabic, and people thought maybe he’s just scared of flying initially,” Kahn said.
“It sort of got worse as things progressed.”
Kahn said the three-hour wait on the tarmac left passengers unnerved. However, he said the crew did a “great job just trying to keep [the man] calm”.
“We expected that as soon as we landed, [police would] storm the plane and get this guy off,” he said.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said she did not think the three-hour wait was too long.
“I know it’s terrifying for those people on board and their families outside, but given that situation … we don’t storm planes; it’s not TV, it’s not the movies and we want to protect the lives of all passengers,” she said.
“The important thing is that we try and defuse and not escalate the situation, and so I praised the crew for what they did in keeping the passengers calm.”
Passengers were escorted off the aircraft and taken by bus to the main section of the airport, where police interviewed witnesses.
Passengers were given hotel vouchers, but, as of 8.30pm, were still not able to collect their luggage or carry-on baggage from the plane.
“Absolute kudos to the cabin crew,” passenger Sammi Marks said online.
In a statement, Malaysia Airlines said: “In the interests of safety, the commander of the flight made the decision to return to Sydney.
“The flight, carrying 194 passengers and five crew on board, landed safely at 3.47pm.
“The safety and comfort of our crew and passengers are of utmost importance to Malaysia Airlines.”
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