Mentally ill man who tried to hijack Malaysia Airlines plane told 'get back to your f***ing seat' by 'heroic' passengers

Flight forced to return to Australia after a man threatens to detonate a bomb and attempts to enter cockpit

Passengers at Melbourne Airport after being disembarked from a Malaysia Airlines plane on 1 June (Mr Khoo/Twitter)

A mentally ill man who tried to hijack a Malaysia Airlines plane was told to “get back to your f***ing seat” by other passengers.

The plane was forced to return to Australia when a 25-year-old Sri Lankan man threatened to detonate a bomb and attempted to enter the cockpit before being tackled and tied up by passengers.

The man, who has not been named, had been discharged from a Melbourne psychiatric hospital before buying a ticket on the late-night flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said.

Former AFL player, Andrew Leoncelli, said he was sitting four rows from the front of the plane when the man tried to enter the cockpit approximately ten minutes after take-off.

"He started saying, 'I need to see the pilot. I need to see the pilot', the staff were saying, 'Sit down. Go back to your seat. Go back to your seat.' " Mr Leoncelli told ABC News.

"Then he started going louder: 'No I need to see the pilot.' And got louder and louder and eventually they screamed for help.

"So that's when I jumped up. I said, 'Mate, get back to your f***ing seat.'

Mr Leoncelli said the man was holding a large object with what appeared to be antennas coming off it.

"I was literally eyeballing him and he was like, 'I'm going to blow the f***ing plane up, I'm going to blow the plane up'. He was agitated, is the best description.

"He was a man on a mission and he was pacing from one foot to the other, like a cat on a hot tin roof."

Police Superintendent Tony Langdon gave credit to the flight crew who also played a part in tackling the man.

"We believe that the actions of the passengers and crew were quite heroic," Mr Langdon said.

The Airbus A330-300 carrying 337 passengers returned to Melbourne airport about 30 minutes after takeoff.

Passengers were kept on the plane for 90 minutes after landing and the plane was searched for potential bombs, Mr Ashton said.

Police wearing body armour took the man off the plane and have determined he had no "terrorist" links or associates.

Victoria State Premier Daniel Andrews offered government support for the passengers stranded by the ordeal.

"I don't think any of us have a true understanding of the trauma, just how frightening this experience would have been," Mr Andrews said.

The man, who is studying to be a chef in Australia on a student visa, will appear in court on charges related to endangering a plane or making a false threat.

He could receive a maximum penalty of ten years in prison.

The airline said the incident would be investigated.

Agencies contributed to this report