Malaysia Airlines flight returns to Australia after passenger tries to enter cockpit, officials say
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A Malaysia Airlines flight flying from Melbourne, Australia was forced to turn back Wednesday after a disruptive passenger attempted to enter the cockpit, the airline said.
MH128 departed from Melbourne Airport at 11:11 p.m. (9:11 a.m. ET), but returned less than an hour later after the captain alerted the crew that a passenger was trying to enter the cockpit, the airline said in a statement to Fox News. The plane was headed to Kuala Lumpur.
The plane landed at 11:41 p.m. at Melbourne airport without incident. The passenger was detained by airport security, according to the airline. No one was injured.
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Malaysia's deputy transport minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi told AFP News Agency the passenger claimed he had a bomb, "but it was not a bomb but a powerbank."
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Flight MH128 was scheduled to land in the Malaysian capital at 5:28 a.m. Thursday (local time). Unable to take the originally scheduled flight, passengers were rebooked on the next available Malaysian Airlines flight out of Melbourne and offered hotel accommodations.
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"Malaysia Airlines would like to stress that at no point was the aircraft 'hijacked," the airline said.
Australian authorities and Malaysia Airlines are investigating the incident.