The suspect was tackled and tied up by passengers and crew after he allegedly tried to storm the cockpit. Picture: Supplied

“We have a passenger trying to enter the cockpit,” the pilot tells air traffic control.

“He is claiming to have an explosive device.

“He tried to enter the cockpit.

“He has been overpowered by passengers, however, we’d like to land and have the device checked out.”

The plane, with 337 people onboard, landed back at Melbourne Airport without incident.

Sri Lankan national Manodh Monaragala Marks, 25, appeared before Magistrate Suzie Cameron charged with threatening to destroy, kill or injure anyone on an aircraft and recklessly threatening to detonate an explosive device.

Marks, who was charged by agents from the Australian Federal Police counter-terrorism unit, declined to be brought up from the cells to face the hearing.

The court heard Marks was suffering a mental illness and had recentlybeen discharged from a psychiatric hospital.

Marks was remanded in custody to reappear in August.

The brave passengers who tackled the man about 10 minutes into flight MH128, which departed from Melbourne for Kuala Lumpur at 11.11pm, have been hailed as heroes.

Police say the man who allegedly claimed to have the bomb had been released from a psychiatric facility yesterday.

Victoria Police chief commissioner Graham Ashton said the alleged offender purchased his ticket after being released from the facility and then boarded the Airbus A330.

The jet was forced to return to Melbourne after the passenger allegedly tried to enter the cockpit, claiming to have explosives.

The man accused of sparking the major security incident has since been unmasked on social media.

Manodh Marks posted a video to Instagram around 7.30pm last night appearing to show him travelling on the freeway on the way to the airport.

A man arrested over the incident on MH128 is driven into Melbourne Magistrate’s Court today. Picture: AAPSource:AAP

Passengers say they endured a wait of more than an hour until police boarded the plane.

Mr Ashton said this morning that the man, a Sri Lankan national, was being interviewed by police and was expected to front court later today.

He said the man had been a voluntary patient at the psychiatric facility.

——————

MH128 BOMB THREAT TIMELINE, times supplied by Victoria Police

Plane takes off from Melbourne Airport at 11.11pm

AFP Operations Coordination Centre advised at 11.37pm

Melbourne AFP Aviation advised at 11.38pm

AFP notified Vic Police at 11.39pm

AFP established Police Forward Command at Gate 27, as MH128 taxied to a secure position on the tarmac at 11.43pm

Plane lands at Tullamarine at 11.47pm

Victoria Police’s Special Operations Group notified by D24 communications centre at 11.53pm

Victoria Police general duties arrive at 11.55pm

SOG and Critical Incident Response Team arrive at 12.23am

Formal handover of operational command to Victoria Police at 12.34am

Police board plane at 1.21am

——————

Mr Ashton told a parliamentary inquiry there were initial reports the accused man, since revealed to be aged 25, may have had a second device on the plane.

He said “forward commanders” had to do a series of checks - including matching the passenger manifests against terrorism watchlists - before storming the plane.

He said it took police a while to “isolate the information” if there was a second device on the plane.

Mr Ashton defended the time it took his officers to board the jet.

“These are life and death decisions the forward commanders have to make. At times they are damned if they do and damned if they don’t,” he said.

Wayne Gatt, Secretary of the Police Association, said:“Given the information at hand, police had every reason to treat this situation as a counter-terrorism incident.

“Such incidents demand the implementation of well-drilled and controlled responses instead of resorting to unplanned, cavalier actions that could lead to disaster.

“Police turned an unplanned event into a planned response leading to the safe and peaceful conclusion of this incident.

“This outcome should be seen as testament to the appropriate tactics employed by police.”

The AFP said in their statement their officers, along with Victoria Police officers, took time to assess “conflicting sources of information” before boarding.

“In conjunction with Victoria Police, resolution planning took into account multiple and conflicting sources of information received via social media and official sources,” the AFP says.

“All precautions were taken to confirm this information to ensure an appropriate response.

“At all times the safety and security of the passengers and crew was the primary focus for police.”

Passengers speaking to officers on the tarmac after coming off the Malaysia Airlines flight. Picture: AFPSource:AFP

While the AFP and Victoria Police continue to investigate, authorities allege the man had reached the cockpit door and was seeking entry, holding a device.

Mr Ashton described the device the man was holding as a “music speaker, about the size of a shoe”.

“He has attempted to enter the cockpit (and) at that time he was carrying a plastic bag,” Mr Ashton said.

“The plastic bag contained what appeared to be a speaker like device and a cord.

“The offender has moved away and was subdued by several passengers.

“At that point he was trussed up and the flight was returned to Melbourne.”

Former Melbourne AFL footballer Andrew Leoncelli, who was on the flight, told how he tried to stop the man.

“We literally took off, 10 minutes into the take off, and I was sitting in business class 4A seat, and I could hear this idiot saying that he wanted to go in and see the pilot,” he told 3AW.

“The staff were saying ‘sit back down sir, sit back down sir’.

“He goes, ‘no, I’m not going to sit back down – I’m going to blow the plane up’.”

Mr Leoncelli said once they landed safely, passengers were kept on the plane on the tarmac for more than an hour before police boarded.

“We sat on the tarmac for an hour and 20 minutes waiting for the police to come and we were praying that it wasn’t a bomb,” he said.

The man is detained on the flight.Source:Supplied

Former Melbourne footballer Andrew Leoncelli in the arrivals terminal. Picture: Jake NowakowskiSource:News Corp Australia

Passengers Stan and Pam Young, flying on to London, were angry they were not evacuated sooner.

“If there was a bomb on that plane we should have been communicated (to) ... instead, we sat there for another hour and a half.

“There was no communication.

“They literally left us waiting and wondering.”

Mr Ashton said the operation was initially treated as a counter-terror incident.

He said passengers were allowed off the plane as soon as it was “practicable”.

“There were some initial reports we received about the possibility of there being more than one offender or more than one explosive device,” he said.

“Comments were made by the offender about blowing the plane up.

“We were following up on that and decisions had to be made about what was the safest way to get the passengers off the plane. That did occur and all passengers were safely removed from the plane.

“I have seen commentary this morning about the time it took to take passengers off the plane.

“The main thing we have to focus on in that scenario is safely getting all passengers and crew off the flight.

“For us we have to make sure all possibilities are taken into account ... the possibility there are co-offenders or if there was an explosive device or the possibility of another explosive device.

“Once we were satisfied we were dealing with one offender and a device that was increasingly looking unlikely to be an explosive device, the decision was made to get the passengers off and that was done. I think the entire time was around 90 minutes.

“I certainly appreciate when you are on a plane in that situation one minute can seem like an hour.

“But during the night, I was pretty much updated on a minute by minute basis, I’m satisfied with our response.

“It was a successful outcome.”

Mr Ashton said there was no evidence to suggest there were any delays caused by co-ordination between federal and state authorities.

The flight path of MH128. Image: FlightRadar24Source:Supplied

Police onboard the Malaysia Airlines jet. Picture: Andrew LeoncelliSource:Supplied

The scene that confronted passengers soon after landing back in Melbourne. Picture: Andrew LeoncelliSource:Supplied

Police rush onboard. Picture: Andrew LeoncelliSource:Supplied

Premier Dan Andrews praised police, the crew and “brave passengers” aboard the jet.

He said: “The objective in a serious incident like this is to get everyone off the plane safely, and that is what occurred.”

Mr Andrews said the man in custody had been studying to be a chef.

It was not clear what psychiatric care the man was receiving, he added.

The man held a current visa to be in Australia.

“With any incident like this Victoria Police will thoroughly investigate any response, the State Government stands ready to support that,” he added.

“There are standard protocols in place and the information I have is that they were followed.

“People are understanding of the fact that (authorities) have to know exactly what they are dealing with ... (or) potentially make a bad situation much, much worse.”

Passengers leave the Malaysia Airlines Airbus. Picture: TwitterSource:Supplied

He added that guidelines governing flying bans involving people in psychiatric care were “very complex”.

Australian Federal Police Superintendent Martin Goode said: “The safety of passengers is paramount, and we need to consider a number of options, and Victoria Police was handling that side of things, in discussion with us, and we needed to make sure that all contingencies were covered.”

Other passengers have told of their terror as the man was restrained.

The man allegedly responsible is believed to have a history of mental illness.

Supt Langdon said the “device” the man was holding was “obviously not an explosive device” but would not go into further detail.

He said members from the Special Operations Group detained the man after the flight was turned back to Melbourne.

RELATED: Drama the latest in a long line of incidents

“Approximately four kilometres out from Melbourne Airport a male from economy has left his seat and shouted that he had a bomb and tried to move towards the cockpit area,” Supt Langdon said.

“It appears he tried to gain access to the cockpit and was restrained by passenger and crew.

“The pilot had then invoked their emergency procedures and returned the aircraft to Melbourne Airport.

“We now have that passenger in custody and he is being interviewed by AFP and Victoria Police.”

The Malaysia Airlines plane has been moved to a secure area.

Melbourne Airport was placed in lockdown soon after the incident with flights resuming at 2.30am.

Incoming aircraft were diverted to Avalon Airport.

Superintendent Tony Langdon. Picture: Kylie ElseSource:News Corp Australia

Supt Langdon added: “We don’t believe it is terrorist related at this stage.

“Investigations are obviously still going on.

“We believe the male, the 25-year-old male from Dandenong, has acted alone.

“We are currently finalising our process of investigation of the passengers and the crew.

“It’s an electronic object but it was soon recognised not to be an explosive device.

“We are aware that this gentleman has mental health issues.

“I think it is quite heroic by the passengers and the crew to restrain him in the way they’ve done.

“We have done everything we can and I know Malaysian Airlines have done everything they can to try to help get the passengers through this process and be able to return home or get on to other flights.”

In a statement released this morning, Malaysia Airlines says: “MH128, which had departed Melbourne Airport at 11.11pm and was scheduled to arrive Kuala Lumpur at 5.28am on 1 June, made a turn back to Melbourne after the operating Captain was alerted by a cabin crew member of a passenger attempting to enter the cockpit.

“Malaysia Airlines would like to stress that at no point was the aircraft ‘hijacked’.

“MH128 safely landed in Melbourne airport at 11.41pm.

“Following the incident on MH128, the disruptive passenger has been apprehended by airport security.

“Malaysia Airlines together with the Australian authorities will be investigating the incident.

“Safety and security are of utmost priority to Malaysia Airlines.

“The airline wishes to apologise for the inconvenience caused.

“Passengers have safely disembarked the aircraft and will be screened by Australian authorities.

“Affected passengers will be accommodated at hotels.

“They will be offered travel on the next available flight or on other carriers.”

Heavy police presence at Melbourne Airport this morning. Picture: Nicole GarmstonSource:News Corp Australia

Police block entrances to Melbourne Airport late last night. Picture: Rob LeesonSource:Supplied

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in Parliament today that Australia’s transport security measures were “comprehensive and strong” but were being continually reviewed to ensure they remained effective and proportionate to the level of risk.

“We do everything we can to ensure that Australians fly safely and securely,” he said.

“Our transport security system is designed to keep Australians safe and prevent acts of unlawful interference.

“It includes the screening of passengers and baggage, hardened cockpit doors, training cabin crew to respond to threats to security, it involves plain clothes inflight security officers, and ensuring that unauthorised items are not placed on board aircraft.”

Federal Transport Minister Darren Chester said early information indicated the security screening measures were working ahead of the flight and onboard.

The Minister said there were “very strict” security protocols in place in Australia but said the incident would be reviewed.

He said it was too early to comment on the device the man was holding.

“By all early accounts, the security parameters worked but that doesn’t change the fact it would have been a very worrying time for the passengers and crew on board when the incident occurred,” he told the ABC.

Mr Chester said the incident did not appear to be terrorism-related but rather a mental health issue.

“We are reviewing our security procedures in response to new information, new alerts around the world on an ongoing basis,” he said.

“Obviously the security of the Australian travelling public is the highest priority when it comes to Transport Ministry issues.

“If we receive new information, or there is a new or emerging threat around the world, we assess our protocols accordingly.

“We have outstanding security protocols here in Australia. It is designed to keep the travelling public safe.

“We have to look at this incident and review every aspect of it and then make an assessment about whether any changes need to be made.”

Mr Chester said there were no plans currently to introduce bans on a laptop or large electronic devices on planes similar to bans introduced in the United States and United Kingdom.

Long lines at Melbourne Airport at 4am. Picture: Rob LeesonSource:Supplied

Police cars lined up at Melbourne Airport. Picture: Rob LeesonSource:Supplied

Malaysia's Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Seri Aziz Ab Kaprawi said the man was drunk. Picture: TwitterSource:Supplied

Malaysian news service The Star quoted Malaysia’s Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Seri Aziz Ab Kaprawi as saying: “Malaysia Airlines practises a high level of security and safety, so they turned back.

“The crew managed to handle the passenger and once they landed, they contacted airport security to have the passenger removed.

“I have no information yet as to whether the plane will be taking off again soon.”

The incident is the latest in a string of incidents to hit the airline in recent years.