Passenger held at Sydney airport after mid-air emergency incident

Australian Federal Police (AFP) said on Monday that a passenger has been arrested on an international flight from Sydney to Malaysia following a mid-air emergency incident, reported Xinhua.

"The man, 45, was arrested by the AFP without incident. Passengers have now been evacuated from the aircraft," AFP said in a statement. "There is no impending threat to the community. The man is expected to be charged later tonight."

At about 5:16 p.m. local time, the police revealed on its social media account that the authority was responding to an "emergency incident" at Sydney International Airport.

Sydney Airport confirmed that as a result of the incident, there have been 32 domestic flights canceled, with delays of up to 90 minutes for other domestic flights.

"Currently no international flight cancellations. Passengers are encouraged to check with their airline regarding the status of their flight," Sydney Airport noted.

According to real-time air traffic tracker Flightradar24, Malaysia Airlines flight MH122 to Kuala Lumpur took off at about 1:40 p.m. local time, but the aircraft was later diverted back to Sydney.

Malaysian National News Agency Bernama reported that the turn-back decision was made due to "a disruptive passenger onboard."

"In the interest of safety, the commander of the flight made a decision to return to Sydney. The flight, carrying 194 passengers and five crew onboard, landed safely at 3.47 p.m. local time," Malaysia Airlines was quoted as saying.