Flier tries to enter cockpit, is tied up

CANBERRA, Australia — A Malaysia Airlines plane returned to Australia after a mentally ill passenger threatened to detonate a bomb and attempted to enter the cockpit before he was tackled and tied up by passengers, police said Thursday.

Manodh Marks, a 25-yearold Sri Lankan, had been discharged from a Melbourne psychiatric hospital on Wednesday before buying a ticket on the late-night flight to Kuala Lumpur, said Graham Ashton, police chief of Victoria state.

Police have determined he had no “terrorist” links or associates, Ashton said.

About 10 minutes after Flight 128 took off from Melbourne, Marks walked from his economy seat to the cockpit door clutching an electronic device and threatening to blow up the plane, creating panic among passengers. Passengers subdued him and tied him up with belts.

“At that point, he was essentially trussed up,” Ashton told reporters.

Marks, who is in Australia on a student visa while studying to be a chef, appeared Thursday in the Melbourne Magistrates Court and was charged with endangering the safety of an aircraft and making false threats. He faces a potential 10-year prison sentence on each charge.

His lawyer, Tess Dunsford, told the magistrate that Marks suffered from a psychiatric illness and would not apply for bail. He did not enter pleas to the charges. He will appear in court next on Aug. 24.

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