Passengers On Melbs Flight Slam 90 Min Wait For Cops To Remove Feared Bomb

Passengers aboard the Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur flight subject to an attempted hijacking late last night have given more details on the incident, and have raised concerns about the speed of the law enforcement response. 

After a 25-year-old man was apprehended by passengers when he attempted to enter the cabin with a suspicious device, Malaysian Airlines Flight 128 was safely landed back in Melbourne. 

Some of those onboard claim that they were left without adequate information during the police response, and that authorities neglected to update passengers on the situation.
Speaking to The Herald Sun, passenger Selena Brown said it took over an hour for police to arrive at the plane, despite initially being told they’d be onboard in ten minutes.
“It was really disappointing, because we weren’t updated all the time,” Brown said.

“We could see police from the plane, but they weren’t coming on to the plane and we didn’t know why.”
In a video taken before the man’s removal, Andrew Leoncelli said “there’s a giant black object on this plane, a crazy guy wants to blow it up, who was subdued,” but “the police are sitting four kilometres away, haven’t moved in 25 minutes.

“This is an absolute joke. Seriously, help us.”
Passengers Stan and Pam Young said they “sat there for another hour and a half” before response teams conducted their operation on the grounded plane, and that “there was no communication.

“They literally left us waiting and wondering.”
Earlier, one passenger took to Instagram about the ordeal, writing they had “been waiting in the plane for an hour” and that “the bomb may go off any time.”

When police took to the plane, it was determined the device was not a threat. 
Victoria Police Superintendent Tony Langdon declined to discuss the intricacies of their immediate response, citing operational concerns. Australian Federal Police Superintendent Martin Goode elaborated, saying Victoria Police “needed to make sure that all contingencies were covered.”
Thankfully, nobody was injured during the incident, and passengers bound for Kuala Lumpur have begun to board new flights. 

Source: The Herald Sun / Sydney Morning Herald / news.com.au.
Photo: @saroki19 / Twitter.

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