Why did it take so long to remove ‘crazed’ passenger who caused a Malaysia Airlines flight to turn back to Sydney Airport

Questions have been raised on why police took so long to remove terrified passengers stuck on a plane for hours after a man went on a crazed rant about Allah.

Frustrated travellers, some with babies and young children, have opened up about the nightmare ordeal on Malaysia Airlines MH122 bound Kuala Lumpur on Monday.

Witnesses claimed a ‘disruptive’ passenger reached into his bag and declared he had ‘a bomb’ inside, forcing the plane to turn back to Sydney Airport.

Passengers then spent up to three hours stranded on board the grounded plane on the tarmac without food and water before they were finally allowed to disembark.

They had to leave everything on board the plane, including their luggage, passports and even medication.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb has defended the police response to the incident in conjunction with Australian Federal Police.

A Canberra man, 55, man has since been charged with making a false statement about threat to damage and one count of not complying with directions. 

He appeared in Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday, where bail was refused.

Passengers who were on the Malaysia Airlines flight which was turned back to Sydney have recalled their terrifying ordeal onboard

The ‘disruptive’ passenger on board Malaysian Airlines MH122 bound Kuala Lumpur on Monday will face court later on Tuesday

Nikitha Ezhu was travelling with a three-year-old toddler and a two-month baby whom she was breastfeeding.

She described the ordeal as ‘the worst situation’.

‘We were able to pick up wi-fi but there was no food or anything on the flight, which was really bad. When we saw the news, it really horrified us,’ she told Sunrise on Tuesday.

‘It was a nightmare. There were a lot of kids on the flight and I don’t know how we went through that situation.’

Some passengers claimed they received no updates while on board as on when they would be able to disembark and found out more about the incident by reading media reports on their phones. 

Ms Ezhu recalled how the police ordered passengers to leave everything on board when they left the plane. 

‘The kids were then OK to finally have some water and food,’ she said.

She recalled hearing the man preaching the Koran early during the flight before he claimed he had a bomb with him, forcing the plane  turn around.

‘It reached Sydney and I think for two hours, we were waiting on the flight for police to come and make some action, so it was really horrifying, actually.’

Nikitha Ezhu and her two children were among almost 200 terrified passengers on board the flight

Passengers spent up to three hours stranded on the grounded plane on the tarmac when it returned to Sydney on Monday afternoon

Ms Ezhu and her family were sitting at the rear end of the plane, which was surrounded by fire engines on the tarmac.

She’s among many travellers who raised questions about the emergency response.

‘I don’t why it took so long for the police to come because we were waiting on the plane for two hours,’ she said.

‘There were kids and families not knowing what to do, had no food or nothing. It was really horrifying.’

Other passengers shared similar harrowing ordeals when they finally walked through the airport terminal on Monday night.

‘We weren’t able to be told what was going on, but we knew the plane was turning around. We could see it on the inflight screen,’ passenger Fiona Roux told reporters.

‘The commotion was on and off. (It was) not alarming. When I really understood what was going on it was the landing and the abrupt stop.’

Like many of her fellow passengers, Ms Roux then turned on her phone and ‘found out what was actually happening’ through media reports.

The man (pictured, without the face mask) says his name if Mohammed and says he is a ‘slave of Allah’, before challenging other passengers nearby to repeat that they are also ‘slaves of Allah’

Passengers had to leave everything on board, including passports and medication when they were finally allowed to disembark the plane

The NSW Police Commissioner has hit back at claims that the delays were too long.

‘Given it was a volatile situation and unpredictable, we didn’t know about the severity of the incident,’ Commissioner Karen Webb told 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Tuesday.

‘You have to deal with what we learn about the passenger. 

‘We didn’t know whether there was a bomb so we had to work with the AFP through all of those considerations in terms of what we were dealing with.

She believed three hours to defuse the situation was ‘pretty good’ and that extensive police resources were deployed to respond to the incident, including the bomb squad.

‘I know it’s terrifying for those on the plane and their families outside but given the situation, you try to negotiate, we don’t storm planes,’ Commissioner Webb said.

‘It’s not TV or the movies, we want to protect the lives of all passengers.

‘I can only imagine how terrifying it would have been for them.’ 

 ‘I praise the crew for what they did in keeping the passengers calm … to de-escalate the situation to the point that we got this matter resolved in three hours.’

NSW Police Commissioner has hit back at criticism of the police response to the terrifying incident onboard

Commissioner Webb was asked by Fordham on whether it would have been ‘safer if they had a police officer on board sooner’,

‘We can always ask, could we have done something differently,’ she admitted.

‘And no doubt there’ll be a debrief, but we can never presume anything and you don’t know whether this person was acting alone or he actually had other support on the plane or outside the plane,’ she said.

‘We’re never complacent on these issues and we should never presume anything. We’re just lucky in Australia this happens so rarely but we should never be complacent to think it could never happen here.’

The man was arrested without incident on Monday night.

He was charged with one count of false statement about threat to damage a Division 3 aircraft and one count of not comply with cabin crew’s safety instruction.

The offences carry a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of over $15,000, respectively.

‘Now the matter is before court, no further comment or updates will be made at this stage,’ an AFP statement read.

Many passengers on board the flight (pictured leaving Sydney Airport after the ordeal) raised questions about the emergency response to the incident

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