Passengers tackle bomb threat man

A MALAYSIA Airlines flight was forced to return to an Australian airport after a mentally ill passenger threatened to detonate a bomb and tried to enter the cockpit.

The 25-year-old Sri Lankan man, clutching an electronic device, was overpowered and tied up by passengers.

The man had been discharged from a Melbourne psychiatric hospital yesterday before buying a ticket on the latenight flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Victoria police chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said.

Flight 128 was about 10 minutes into its journey from Melbourne when the man walked from his economy seat to the cockpit door and threatened to blow up the plane, creating panic on board.

He was tackled by a number of passengers who tied him up with belts.

“At that point, he was essentially trussed up,” Mr Ashton said, describing the device the man carried as an “amplifier-type instrument”.

Passenger Andrew Leoncelli said it was a boombox type portable music player.

“He was saying, ‘I’m going to the blow the plane up, I’m going to blow t he plane up’,” said Mr Leoncelli.

“Two or three brave young Aussies have taken him on and got him to the ground.”

Police superintendent Tony Langdon said the flight crew also played a part in tackling the man.

“We believe that the actions of the passengers and crew were quite heroic,” he said.

The Airbus A330-300 carrying 337 passengers returned to the airport about 30 minutes after take-off.

Passengers were kept on the plane for 90 minutes after landing and the aircraft was searched for potential bombs at a remote part of the airport.

Police wearing body armour removed the man from the plane. They have determined that the man had no terrorist links or associates, Mr Ashton said.

The man, who is studying to be a chef in Australia on a student visa, was due to appear in court today on charges related to endangering a plane or making a false threat, Mr Ashton said.

Victoria state premier Daniel Andrews offered government support to the passengers stranded by the ordeal.

“I don’t think any of us have a true understanding of the trauma, just how frightening this experience would have been,” he said.

An armed policeman on board the Malaysia Airlines plane after a man tried to enter the cockpit shortly after take-off.