CANBERRA: A 45-year-old man has been charged with threatening to blow up a plane during a flight from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur that had to turn back to the Australian capital.
Police arrested Canberra resident Muhammad Arif and took him from the Airbus A330 on Monday, almost three hours after Malaysia Airlines flight MH122 returned to Sydney Airport.
Police said Muhammad Arif became disruptive and claimed to have explosives on board.
He was charged with making a false statement about a threat to damage an aircraft and failing to comply with the cabin crew’s safety instructions.
The charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of more than AUD$15,000 (RM45,000).
Muhammad Arif refused to leave his police cell to appear before a Sydney court by video link. Magistrate Greg Grogin ruled out forcing him from the cell.
Defence lawyer Mostafa Daoudie told Grogin that his client had “serious mental issues” and was “not in the right state of mind.”
The magistrate postponed the listing of the case to allow Mostafa time to visit the police cell and assess whether his client was “fit and able to give instructions”.
But Muhammad Arif never appeared, and his case was listed for today. The magistrate refused to release him on bail.
The airliner left Sydney on Monday with 199 passengers and 12 crew on a scheduled eight-hour flight to Kuala Lumpur.
One of the passengers, Velutha Parambath, said Muhammad Arif had drawn attention to himself before takeoff by praying aloud.
“At that point, we just thought he was praying for everyone,” said Velutha, who was seated five rows behind Muhammad Arif.
But half an hour into the flight, Muhammad Arif became louder, stood up, and started pushing and shoving passengers, Velutha said, adding that the man implied that he had explosives in a backpack.
“I don’t think he specifically said ‘bomb.’ But he was carrying his bag and he said, ‘I’ve got power in my arms’,” said Velutha, who was travelling with his wife and three children.
Malaysia Airlines said the pilot decided to return to Sydney for safety reasons.
The passengers’ concerns escalated after they landed and spent almost three hours in the plane on the tarmac.
“All we saw were fire engines surrounding us, and again, people reading the news saying there’s potentially a bomb on the plane,” Velutha said.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb defended the delay between when the plane landed and when two police officers handcuffed Muhammad Arif.
“We can never presume anything and you don’t know whether this person was acting alone or if he had other support on the plane or outside the plane,” Webb said. — AP
