A Canberra man who forced a Malaysia Airlines flight to return to Sydney after allegedly making bomb threats on board has "serious mental health issues" and is refusing to leave his cell to face court.
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Muhammad Arif, 45, has been charged with one count each of making a false statement about a threat to damage an aircraft and failing to comply with the cabin crew's safety instructions.
The Canberra man was set to appear before Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday morning, but he refused to cooperate with officers.
"Apparently, he is refusing to come out of his cell and they'll have to extract him if he is to come to court," magistrate Greg Grogin said.
"We won't force him out of his cell."
The AFP allege the man became disruptive on the flight which left Sydney Airport about 1pm destined for Kuala Lumpur, but returned to Sydney at 3.45pm. The 194 passengers and five crew were evacuated from the A330 aircraft and taken to the terminal.
Passenger Edo Kahn told Sydney radio 2GB the man started praying "really loudly" as the flight was taking off.
"People thought maybe he was just scared of flying initially but then it just sort of got worse as things progressed and the whole situation with him not letting go of his bag."
Velutha Parambath, who was travelling with his young family, told Nine's Today program the man began saying "Allahu akbar" and pointing to a bag next to him as the plane started taking off.
Others on board the flight said the man yelled at flight attendants, made threats and knelt in the aisle of the aircraft.
'They could have done something'
Once the plane returned to Sydney Airport passengers say it took three hours before the man was arrested and they were able to disembark.
"They could have disembarked us, they could have done something," Mr Parambath said.
"We were just isolated at the end of the runway and that was the scariest of all."
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The AFP, which helped coordinate the operation on the tarmac, said it acted once it was safe to do so.
"The AFP will not divulge operational matters, however, an emergency response plan was enacted and an evacuation was initiated once it was deemed safe for passengers and crew," they said in a statement.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the flight crew did a great job de-escalating the situation and responded to questions about how long it took for police to act.
"I think three hours is pretty good," she told 2GB on Tuesday.
"We can never presume anything and we you don't know whether this person was acting alone or he actually had other support on the plane or outside the plane so you can't presume anything.
"The protocol in Australia is to negotiate - we don't storm planes, this is not TV, it's not the movies and we want to protect the lives of all passengers."
NSW Premier describes incident as 'the unthinkable'
NSW Premier Chris Minns thanked police and other emergency services who responded to the incident.
"Overnight, the unthinkable happened at Sydney Airport with a bomb threat on board a returning plane," he said on Twitter.
"To the passengers on board the plane, no one can imagine the stress you were under but you showed unbelievable calm and courage.
"I want to thank everyone who did what needed to be done to resolve this situation peacefully."
Accused to be assessed
Arif's lawyer, Mostafa Daoudie, said his client had "serious mental health issues" and didn't seem to understand the situation he was in during a pre-court conference.
He applied for the 45-year-old to be assessed before being brought to court, adding that his client was "not in the right state of mind".
Mr Daoudie was due to speak to Arif in person and assess his fitness to appear before the magistrate.
With Australian Associated Press
