‘Disruptive' passenger arrested after flight from Australia to Malaysia returns to Sydney

ISTANBUL

A passenger described as “disruptive” by Malaysian Airlines has been arrested after its Australia to Malaysia flight returned to Sydney.

Australian Federal Police (AFP) said in a statement that the “man, 45, was arrested... without (any) incident.”

The flight to Kuala Lumpur was redirected back to Sydney and positioned away from other aircraft on the tarmac.

A video of the passenger has been shared by other passengers in the plane on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The passenger is seen talking to co-passengers and asking questions from the flight attendant. The attendant is heard responding to the passenger.

“Passengers have now been evacuated from the aircraft. There is no impending threat to the community. The man is expected to be charged later tonight (Monday),” the police said.

“The AFP 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,” the police added.

The return of the flight to Sydney Airport occurred shortly before 4:00 p.m. local time (0600 GMT) on Monday, leading to the closure of several runways and delays in other international flights.