A MAN has been arrested after allegedly threatening crew and passengers onboard a Malaysia Airlines flight bound for Kuala Lumpur, which was forced to return to Sydney International Airport because of the mid-air emergency incident.
The MH122 Airbus-A330 flight to Kuala Lumpur was diverted back to Sydney and the aircraft has been parked on the taxiway at the southern end of the main north-south runway, far from the terminals and other planes, as AFP responded to the “emergency incident” just before 4pm on Monday.
Fire trucks have been called with the plane currently sitting stationary at the end of the runway.
Video from on board the plane appears to show a man, who was wearing a backpack, threatening crew and passengers.
The man, who had a black backpack close by, was heard in the video saying: “My name is Mohammed, slave of Allah.”
“Are you a slave of Allah? Are you? Say it. Say it! Are you a slave of Allah?” the man continued, seemingly asking a flight attendant.
The flight attendant can then be heard replying: “Yes I am”.
The passengers, who have been sitting on the plane for three hours have now disembarked and are being taken in buses back to the airport after AFP entered the plane and arrested the 45-year-old without incident.
The man is expected to be charged later tonight, a spokesperson for the AFP said.
“There is no impending threat to the community,” the spokesperson added.
Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines said the flight was turned around due to a “disruptive passenger onboard”.
“In the interest of safety, the commander of the flight made a decision to return to Sydney. The flight carrying 194 passengers and five crew onboard landed safely at 3.47pm local time.
“The safety and comfort of our crew and passengers are of utmost importance to Malaysia Airlines,” a Malaysia Airlines spokesperson was quoted as saying by Australian news portal 9news today (Aug 14). – Aug 14, 2023
Main pic credit: Sydney Morning Herald
