Malaysia A333 at Melbourne on May 31st 2017, possible hijack attempt averted by other passengers

Last Update: June 1, 2017 / 15:36:05 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
May 31, 2017

Classification
Incident

Airline
Malaysia Airlines

Flight number
MH-128

Departure
Melbourne, Australia

Destination
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Aircraft Registration
9M-MTI

Aircraft Type
Airbus A330-300

ICAO Type Designator
A333

A Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330-300, registration 9M-MTI performing flight MH-128 from Melbourne,VI (Australia) to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), was climbing out of Melbourne's runway 16 when the crew stopped the climb at about 6500 feet reporting a passenger had attempted to intrude the cockpit, the attempt was averted however. The crew decided to return to Melbourne and subsequently reported the passenger, claiming to have an explosive with him, had been overpowered by other passengers, the situation was under control. The aircraft returned to Melbourne for a safe overweight landing on runway 16 about 15 minutes after departure, vacated the runway and taxied to a remote apron where the aircraft is currently surrounded by emergency vehicles. Nobody left the aircraft until about 90 minutes after landing.

Local police reported they are responding to an incident at Melbourne Airport without going into further details.

The airline reported about 3 hours after landing: "MH128, which had departed Melbourne Airport at 11.11pm scheduled to arrive Kuala Lumpur at 5.28am on 1 June, made a turn back to Melbourne after the operating Captain was alerted by a cabin crew of a passenger attempting to enter the cockpit. Malaysia Airlines would like to stress that at no point was the aircraft 'hijacked'". The passenger was apprehended by security forces. The passengers have disembarked the aircraft in the meantime and have been taken to hotels.

On Jun 1st 2017 Australia's Police reported the 25 year old male, Sri Lankan Citizen, had been released from a psychiatric facility hours before boarding the flight. They are no longer handling this as a case of possible terrorism but as an issue of mental health.
Incident Facts

Date of incident
May 31, 2017

Classification
Incident

Airline
Malaysia Airlines

Flight number
MH-128

Departure
Melbourne, Australia

Destination
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Aircraft Registration
9M-MTI

Aircraft Type
Airbus A330-300

ICAO Type Designator
A333

This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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