A plane full of passengers traveling from Australia to Malaysia was two hours into the eight-hour flight today when a gentleman with a backpack threatened to "blow the plane up." The Malaysia Airlines flight turned around and headed back to Sydney.
During the "emergency incident," one of the passengers reportedly tweeted that the aggressive 45-year-old man was "threatening staff and passengers," according to the South Morning China Post.
Fortunately, crew members found no explosives in the backpack, and the man was arrested "without incident." It took about three hours after landing before passengers were able to deboard the plane, while 32 domestic flights were canceled.
From ABC News:
Malaysia Airlines flight MH122 left Sydney Airport with 199 passengers and 12 crew aboard on an eight-hour flight to Kuala Lumpur and returned more than three hours later because of a "disruptive passenger," the airline said.
"In the interest of safety, the commander of the flight made a decision to return to Sydney," Malaysia's national carrier said in a statement.
Nine News reported that a passenger holding a backpack on the Airbus A330 had threatened to "blow the plane up." Crew checked the backpack and found no explosives, it said.
The man, who was not identified, was expected to be charged later Monday, police said. They did not specify an offense.
"Malaysia Airlines wishes to thank the authorities for their immediate response and to passengers for remaining calm and cooperative during the ordeal," the airline said.
