MH128 Returns to Melbourne after passenger attempted to gain access to flightdeck
 

https://m.malaysiakini.com/news/384154

Hijack attempt on Malaysia Airlines
 

**********BREAKING NEWS***********

Suspected hijacking attempt on MH128 Melbourne Kuala Lumpur and returned shortly after departure with passenger attempting to enter cockpit claiming to have explosives.

Melbourne airport in lockdown. Some flights being diverted to Avalon. All roads are blocked off around the airport

MORE TO COME

Malaysian cant get a break. Sounds like all are safe

Would you look at that... Aussie cops first thing they do ask to stop filming them. Again.

Malaysia Airlines flight grounded in Melbourne after man threatens to blow up plane

Money recurring,I suggest that your criticism be directed toward the instigator of this incident rather than the guys who have to go in and sort out his mess.

After the 2 major events of the last few years,the last thing Malaysian needs is a wannabee hijacker stirring up trouble !

The AFP guys are a counter terror outfit. Similar to SAS - you don't want them filmed.

You're got that wrong, Sunfish. they don't want to be filmed. They don't want any evidence of ol' mate falling down the stairs. 6 times....

Filming of CT/Special Forces Pers
 

Even the Australian media respect the fact that CT/Special Foeces personnel are not to be filmed, or, at a minimum, their faces blurred. It is to protect the personal safety of those personnel and also so that their operational tactics are not disclosed to possible adversaries. That would be why they asked passengers to stop filming.

I was under the impression that it was get down and put your phones down because if your holding a phone up then your not getting down.

From the news, quoting some footy player...
If true where is the LRBL on that aircraft? It would surprise me if it was towards the front?

Decision making in a dynamic, constantly evolving environment with incomplete information, where have I heard that before?

I'm sure they did the best they could with what they had. We can always criticise & question in hindsight, with the facts available to us, and an analysis at our leisure.

Couple of updates:

Herald Sun says:

And police confirm:

90min wait.

I assume these Special Forces were all called out of bed at the odd hour? Or are these guys on standby 24/7?

Bit odd considering the AFP Facility is 500m away. The media didn't buy the Chief Commissioners excuses this morning for the wait either, got nailed.

Report: Police cock-up delayed MH128 evacuation for over an hour (VIDEO) | Malaysia | Malay Mail Online

Confused communications didn't help.

The "alleged" perpetrator was bound up like a suckling pig, better point my semi automatic at him just in case.

The crew and passengers appear to have done a good job in "neutralising" the threat, hand him to the baggage handlers for special care.

Not sure I would be sitting on my hands for 1.5 hours if a guy had threatened the aircraft with a bomb. Possibly they figured out he wasn't the real deal, or he conceded once he was tied up but who's going to take that risk?

Maybe someone should ask why passengers are funding the AFP if they are not there when actually needed?

Sure someone can sleep in, miss the phone etc, but just send a squad car round there and haul him out of bed and whisk him to the airport. Doesn't take 90 minutes to do that.

I'm getting the impression this is another installment of that early 21st century work called 'Security Theater'

Not sure I really see the logic....suspected/possible explosive device on board. So keep the passengers on the aircraft with it.

Didn't Trevor go ballistic at people when he didn't get his way?

Yes, but why are you keeping the passengers, the supposed device, and an aircraft full of fuel, in close proximity? If the device had been real, this would seem to overwhelm any potential issue from a possible other perp.

Why the personal attack? Further demonstrates? Is there a pattern?

I didn't mention he was acting alone. The aircraft was on the ground. Mute point.

What threat? If an accomplice had the ability to detonate another (?) device they would have done so in the air, not wait until the aircraft was parked in a remote spot on the ground. Ergo, no bomb threat, only a possible accomplice to track down.

The second line was a joke, lighten up.

Have personally seen & heard a belligerent, drunken pax be thrown into the lift in the arrivals hall at Tulla. VicPol on that occasion as the AFP were...'unable to assist' us. No cameras, no reports...maybe a slight headache when he woke up at Broady but a good job all round.

Don't worry, there will be another enquiry (a la Lindt cafe) from which we will discover that "procedures were not followed" and that "better co-ordination is required between agencies".

Yes, minister.

I have seen a lot of bollocks on pprune in the years and I can confidently say this thread has most of it. Deer with no eyes?.....No idea...and no I don't post much.

Yes, the crew and pax did a good job sorting him out... which does raise the question in this time of Australia leaning more and more toward militarisation of Police whether it was indeed necessary for what looked like a dozen heavily armed and adorned SAS people to come on board for one mentally disturbed man tied to a chair who couldn't move... am I the only one that thinks this was someone over the top.

Also, considering the fact he was restrained, why the hour before they 'stormed' the aircraft (stormed being the media word for 'walked on board casually') - were they waiting until sufficient media to be there for the 'storming'.

Just a bit cynical in these days of post-Abbott and Dutton penchant for adding 'Force' the end of every Commonwealth agency. What's next, 'CentreLink Force' and Centrelink clerks carrying weapons???

Sadly that's the world we live in now, even the UK is starting to arm most officers. There was talk last week about arming some foot police in Melbourne with automatic weapons.

Perish the thought! Given the average beat Copper`s proficiency with their standard issue pistols, most of them are;

`A danger to themselves and the general public when it comes to the use of their sidearms!`:eek:

(And that quote comes from an acquaintance who once served as a firearms Instructor for the South Australian Police Force.):hmm:

Relax guys, this was just a trial run. They just wanted to confirm 'Australia' isn't ready for some real terrorism. The result speaks for itself.

Perhaps the shrink who released him out into the wild should bare some responsibility for this disruption, but how would they know this person would then go buy an airline ticket and have an neurotic episode in flight.

Are travel agents allowed to ask about your medical history, is it a compulsory question when booking online? No.

Perhaps the shrinks should arrange some adjustment time for these ill people before they are allowed near heavy machinery, particularly if there is no support.

Mental health issues are the new scourge of the modern world and their is no one size fits all answer to the problem. This situation is also not helped by the many inexperienced psychologists seeking to make a nice quick buck out of this profession.

Probably checking the legal rights of the nutter. PC and all that.

mrdeux, I totally agree with you.

I just watched the Victorian police commissioner,(at least I think that's who he was ) defending the 90 min delay in allowing pax off the flight.
His logic is so flawed he needs to at the very least go back for retraining,at worst demoted.

Statements like possibly another "terrorist" on board ,an explosive device, or maybe even the aircraft being booby trapped are all valid concerns.
What is absolutely not acceptable is keeping 300 people locked up in a tin tube surrounded by 70 tonnes of kero.

There is no excuse for getting those passengers out of harms way in the shortest possible time,15 mins would the maximum time I would be prepared to leave my pax on board and only after assessing that the perpetrator was restrained and I was satisfied that there was no bomb on board.
And there's the rub, if he said that the item that he had was a bomb I am not in a position to confirm or deny that, in that case you must evacuate immediately.

Leaving it up to anyone on the ground to make that assessment is not an option.

It's hard to be critical of the police but could it be that they got bogged down in checklists, risk assessments and rehearsals for fear that by making a split second decision they could be second-guessed by a leisurely two year inquiry? Did they consult with the captain? I can't imagine he would not want his pax off the aeroplane immediately.

Well said, faheel & mrdeux.

If the same incident scenario happened in the U.S. or indeed the U.K., France or Germany I can't imagine it taking up to an hour and a half for the authorities to enter the aircraft.

I think you probably nailed it Rodney R and that is absolutely no reflection on the boots on ground people who stand the risk of not making it home to their families, management seem to be hellbent on disciplining out any trace of initiative or common sense.

I have got to say that I would be extremely unhappy if I or loved ones were left cooped up in a threatening environment for 90mins whilst someone extracted his/her head from their digestive tract; either you take the threat seriously, in which case you get pax out asap or you don't in which case 2 officers could have waltzed onboard and bounced ****bags down as many stairs as they deemed necessary. FFS, even the most backward of airports seems to have no difficulty in keeping pax coralled in one area and isolating them from outside contact.

I think the Captain was in charge while waiting for the Police so would certainly have been within his rights to pop the slides and take all passengers off out of harms way , the threat was not yet 100% confirmed either way .
Good information learned from this rely on your instincts and not the external Police /Swat teams .

I have been told by many and often- The Pilot In Command is in charge and has ultimate responsibility, when he is on the aircraft at times like this.

So why did he not evacuate the aircraft?


Not one of you have mentioned this ultimate person of responsibility - but now want to blame police for not taking control when apparently it is the captain who did not follow the regs.

What regs?

Cpt Bloggs
you know, the "regs" :)

Lookleft - all the time! But I thought he talked a lot of sense about this episode.

They are all listed in the thread a month or so back - with lots of cheat beating.

But those "captains" seem quiet on this!

Around the United Doctor removal time.

You've really got a bee in your bonnet about this, don't you, Bandalot?