Summary
- A Malaysia Airlines flight certain for Kuala Lumpur was forced to return to Sydney after a disruptive male passenger threatened crew and other passengers.
- The incident occurred about 90 minutes into the flight, and the passenger was isolated by cabin crew while the flight returned to Sydney.
- The disruptive passenger was arrested upon landing, and the opposite passengers were instructed to remain on the plane for security checks before being transported back to the terminal.
A person has been arrested after allegedly threatening crew and passengers onboard a Malaysia Airlines flight that had departed Sydney certain for Kuala Lumpur earlier today. The flight was forced to return to Sydney following the mid-air emergency incident where the male passenger was arrested.
Details of the incident
Earlier today, a Malaysia Airlines flight that had departed Sydney Airport (SYD) certain for Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia was forced to return to its point of origin after a disruptive male passenger threatened the crew and other passengers onboard.
The Malaysia Airlines flight, operated by one in all the carrier’s Airbus A330-300 aircraft operating flight MH122, departed Sydney at 13:06 local time with 194 passengers onboard. Nevertheless, the flight had only reached so far as northern Latest South Wales when the incident began to unfold. The aircraft had climbed to 36,000ft by this point.
The police later announced that that they had arrested a 45-year-old male passenger who was being held in custody. The person is predicted to be charged in the approaching hours, in line with a police statement. The statement also advised that there was no ongoing threat to the airport or the area people. On the time of writing, the aircraft stays on the bottom in Sydney.
A spokesperson for Sydney Airport, which is now operating on a single runway, said that 32 domestic flights were canceled as a consequence of the incident, and other flights were delayed as much as 90 minutes. Nevertheless, no other international flights were impacted, the spokesperson said.
Responding to the incident, a temporary statement issued by Malaysia Airlines said,
“Within the interests of safety, the commander of the flight made the choice to return to Sydney. The flight, carrying 194 passengers onboard, landed safely at 3.47pm hours. The security and luxury of our crew and passengers are of utmost importance to Malaysia Airlines.”
Further flight details
The aircraft involved in today’s incident was one in all the Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330-300s, of which it has 15 of the kind in service, in line with ch-aviation.com. The aircraft, registered 9M-MTK, is 10.5 years old, having first been delivered to the airline in February 2013.
The aircraft can carry as much as 290 passengers in a two-class configuration – 27 in business class and 263 in economy class.