MELBOURNE: A Malaysia Airlines plane was forced to return to the Melbourne airport after a man who claiming to have a bomb tried to enter the cockpit of the aircraft, police said on Thursday.
Flight MH128 from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was forced to return after take-off at 11.11 p.m. on Wednesday night when a 25-year-old student from Sri Lanka tried to enter the cockpit, reports the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
The man, who has been living in Dandenong in Melbourne's south-east, was tackled by crew members and several passengers, who overpowered him and tied him up with belts.
Heavily-armed police wearing helmets and body armour and carrying rifles boarded the aircraft after it landed, and placed the man under arrest.
Victoria State Police later said the incident was not being treated as terrorism.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said the man was carrying a "speaker-type device", ABC reported.
"It looked to me like a slightly larger version of an iPhone...As one of these bluetooth-type speakers. It has cords that allow you to plug it into some sort of phone device to play music on," he said.
Commissioner Ashton said the man was released from psychiatric care earlier on Wednesday.
Ashton said the man was likely to face Melbourne Magistrates' Court later on Thursday.
