Man arrested after Malaysian Airlines plane from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur forced to turn around mid-flight

By Alex Stambaugh and Jake Kwon, CNN

(CNN) — A 45-year-old man has been arrested after he allegedly disrupted a Malaysian Airlines flight from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur, which was forced to turn around mid-flight and land back in Sydney International Airport on Monday.

“The man is expected to be charged later tonight,” according to a spokesman for the Australian Federal Police. No details of the charges or incident were given.

Police said all passengers were evacuated and there was “no impending threat to the community.”

“An emergency response plan was enacted, and an evacuation was initiated once it was deemed safe for passengers and crew,” police said.

According to several posts on the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, a passenger believed to be on the plane said a man “started threatening staff and passengers.”

CNN has reached out to those believed to be on board the plane.

In a statement to CNN, Malaysian Airlines said the flight carrying 194 passengers and five crew members landed safely at 3:47 p.m. local time, about two hours after it took off.

“Malaysia Airlines flight MH122 on 14 August 2023 returned to Sydney International Airport due to a disruptive passenger on board. In the interest of safety, the commander of the flight made a decision to return to Sydney,” the airline said.

Sydney International Airport said in a statement to CNN that 32 domestic flights, including 16 inbound and 16 outbound, were canceled with other domestic flights experiencing delays of up to 90 minutes.

“Currently there are no international flight cancellations,” the airport said.

The-CNN-Wire
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