Brave passengers say they pounced on a man who allegedly threatened to blow up a flight out of Melbourne, putting him in a chokehold until he passed out.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH128 abandoned its planned trip to Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday night and turned back to Tullamarine Airport after the man allegedly claimed to have explosives.
Passenger Scott Lodge says the man allegedly grabbed a flight attendant by the arm and she screamed out for help.
"In that one second, there were four of us out of our seats and we pounced on him, he just didn't expect it at all," Mr Lodge told AAP on Thursday.
"All of a sudden, someone has him in a chokehold and got his arm behind his back, and the other guy eventually choked him and he passed out."
Another of the passengers who helped tackle the man, Robert Macdonald, said he thought the man was on drugs.
"I couldn't see if he was drunk but his eyes were glazed; we had him down and his eyes were just staring and glassed," he said.
Mr Lodge says the man was then tied up at the front of the plane, which landed and was diverted to "a dead end of the airfield".
Police then took 90 minutes to board the plane, remove the offender and seize an object.
"It took them so long to get on and during that time people were just on edge, anxious, nervous, worried," Mr Lodge said
"Eventually team SWAT come rolling in with the biggest guns ever, the full works, heads down.
"He got absolutely ripped out of that airplane within five seconds of them getting on, they were awesome."
Passenger Stan Young said it took two hours for police to come.
"If there was a bomb on that plane, we should have been evacuated from it. Instead, we sat there," Mr Young said.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said the delay was due to reports about there possibly being more than one offender or device on board.
"(I) absolutely understand if you are on a plane in that situation, it could seem like a long wait," he said.
"We have to make sure all possibilities are taken into account, including the possibilities of co-offenders, or if there was an explosive device."
A 25-year-old Sri Lankan has been charged and is due to face Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Thursday afternoon.
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