Malaysia Airlines Plane Bomb Threat: Passengers Stopped Suspect From Reaching Cockpit
A Malaysia Airlines flight from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur was forced to divert back to Melbourne following a scuffle inside the cabin on Wednesday, May 31. Passengers and crew onboard the flight forcibly restrained a male passenger after he shouted threats and tried to reach the cockpit of the aircraft.
Malaysia Airlines suffers yet another disruption as Flight MH128 bound for Kuala Lumpur had to turn back after an incident on board, according to Al Jazeera. The aircraft diverted back to the Melbourne airport where it just took off from at 01:11 p.m. GMT on Wednesday. Armed law enforcement seized the aircraft immediately after landing.
Andre Leoncelli, a passenger on board the flight, recalled the incident. "He was saying: 'I'm going to the blow the f...ing plane up, I'm going to blow the plane up,'" Leoncelli said, referring to the Sri Lankan national who started the commotion. "He was agitated, is the best description, 100 percent he was agitated," he added, describing the instigator to the Australian Broadcasting Corp the day after the incident.
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Abdul Aziz Kaprawi, Malaysian Deputy Transport Minister, issued a statement to the AFP news agency. Aziz described how the incident was not a hijacking, and how the disruptive passenger attempted to reach the cockpit of the plane. "The passenger... claimed to have a bomb. But it was not a bomb but a power bank." Aziz explained.
Arif Chadhery, another passenger of the disrupted flight, described how the people on board took the situation into their hands to Reuters. "Some passengers and crew grabbed the man and tackled him to the floor," Chadhery said, after the male passenger reportedly attacked a female cabin crew member. The man has been tied up with seat belts after being subdued, he added.
Cabin crew and technical staff will not be operating on future flights until further notice, Malaysia Airlines announced in a statement as investigations with the Australian authorities are ongoing.
