A Malaysia Airlines flight from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur was turned back last night after a “disruptive” and “threatening” passenger attempted to enter the plane’s cockpit holding an unidentified black device, after threatening fellow passengers he would “blow the plane up”.
Photographs taken by other passengers depict armed Australian security personnel boarding the plane after it landed in Melbourne just 30 minutes after takeoff. The man had been pinned to the floor and subdued by other passengers.
#MH128 guy drunk. In plastic cuffs. Looks like the SWAT team was despatched to the flight @MAS pic.twitter.com/FL5TqTEGR3
— saroki (@saroki19) May 31, 2017
One passenger reported that the man had yelled “I’ve got a bomb and I’m going to fucking blow the plane up.”
A Malaysian government official later told local media that the black box the man was holding when he attempted to enter the cockpit was not a bomb or explosive device. but was actually a portable mobile phone charger. This is backed up by an account given to the Sydney Morning Herald by former AFL player Andrew Leoncelli – who was on the flight – describing the device as cylindrical, looking like a speaker, and appearing to have an on/off button.
In an audio recording lifted from air traffic control, a male voice can be heard saying “We have a passenger trying to enter the cockpit.” Later that same voice confirms the man had been subdued, but confirmed that they intended to land and have the device checked.
Malaysia Airlines issued a statement about the incident:
Following the incident on MH128, the disruptive passenger has been apprehended by airport security. Malaysia Airlines together with the Australian authorities will be investigating the incident.
The statement stresses that the airplane was not hijacked at any point in the altercation.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald.
Photo: Andrew Leoncelli.
