Malaysia Airlines flight returns to Australia after passenger tries to enter cockpit, officials say

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Passenger disrupts Malaysia Airlines flight

Plane forced to return to Melbourne 30 minutes into flight to Kuala Lumpur

A Malaysia Airlines flight flying from Melbourne, Australia was forced to turn back Wednesday after a disruptive passenger attempted to enter the cockpit, the airline said.

MH128 departed from Melbourne Airport at 11:11 p.m. (9:11 a.m. ET), but returned less than an hour later after the captain alerted the crew that a passenger was trying to enter the cockpit, the airline said in a statement to Fox News. The plane was headed to Kuala Lumpur.

The plane landed at 11:41 p.m. at Melbourne airport without incident. The passenger was detained by airport security, according to the airline. No one was injured.

Malaysia's deputy transport minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi told AFP News Agency the passenger claimed he had a bomb, "but it was not a bomb but a powerbank."

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Flight MH128 was scheduled to land in the Malaysian capital at 5:28 a.m. Thursday (local time). Unable to take the originally scheduled flight, passengers were rebooked on the next available Malaysian Airlines flight out of Melbourne and offered hotel accommodations.

"Malaysia Airlines would like to stress that at no point was the aircraft 'hijacked," the airline said.

Australian authorities and Malaysia Airlines are investigating the incident.