MH122 incident: Passenger arrested by Aussie cops, to be charged

PETALING JAYA: The Australian Federal Police have arrested a passenger on the Kuala Lumpur-bound Malaysia Airlines flight MH122 which had to return to Sydney on Monday (Aug 14) after an emergency incident.

“A passenger on an international flight from Sydney to Malaysia has been arrested by the police. The man, 45, was arrested without incident,” they said in a statement on the official police website.

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The statement added that the passengers were evacuated from the aircraft.

"There is no impending threat to the community. The man is expected to be charged later tonight,” it said.

"The police will not divulge operational matters; however, an emergency response plan was enacted and an evacuation was initiated once it was deemed safe for passengers and crew,” it added.

According to social media posts regarding the incident, a man was seen yelling and threatening cabin crew and passengers in an aisle of the plane.

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He was seen holding a bag to his chest and threatened to "blow the plane up."

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the aircraft left Sydney at 1.06pm but turned back while over the north-west of New South Wales, and landed at the airport at 3.47pm.

According to the report, passengers were told to leave all hand luggage onboard.