(14 Aug 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++STARTS AND ENDS ON SOUNDBITES SEPARATED BY BLACK FRAMES++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sydney - 14 August 2023
++VIA VIDEO CALL++
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Velutha Parambath, passenger on board of Malaysia Airlines flight MH122:
"Yeah, so we were headed to Kochi as a final destination. Kochi, India via Malaysia. We boarded at 1230, so the flight that should have taken up at 1 p.m.. Nothing suspicious or anything until we
started taking off when this particular passenger started saying "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar," and, yeah, so at that point, I think all the other passengers just thought he was, you know, reciting a sermon on something. So no one was that worried. But I think after maybe half an hour of the plane flying was when he started getting up, pushing passengers and, yeah, he started getting a little violent, and
again, he was preaching mostly, talking about his religious views, etc."
++BLACK FRAMES++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Velutha Parambath, passenger on board of Malaysia Airlines flight MH122:
"I didn't hear that (++asked about reports that the man was threatening to blow up the plane++), but he was wearing something on his hand and he did, like whenever he was talking to the crew, he was like 'I'm not afraid of dying and, you know, I've got things with me,' and so I think that's probably what scared people off."
++BLACK FRAMES++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Velutha Parambath, passenger on board of Malaysia Airlines flight MH122:
"He started praying on the floor as well, just like but while the plane was returning back to Sydney, so."
++BLACK FRAMES++
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Velutha Parambath, passenger on board of Malaysia Airlines flight MH122:
"The general mood on the plane was every everyone was in a state of disbelief and slightly frustrated as well, I guess, given one single person is disrupting around 300 people on the plane, I guess, their travels. For me, especially like, you know, we had a family, a two-month-old and a three-year-old, so it wasn't the best of flights."
++BLACK FRAMES++
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Velutha Parambath, passenger on board of Malaysia Airlines flight MH122:
"What was really disappointing for us was once we landed in Sydney, the passengers were left at the end of the runway, and, yeah, I mean, no police, nothing for an hour and a half. This, this fellow, this other passenger was just, you know, reading his scriptures, threatening people. I know that there are safety procedures, but like the fact that, you know, yeah, that was pretty scary, I'd say."
++BLACK FRAMES++
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Velutha Parambath, passenger on board of Malaysia Airlines flight MH122:
"And I would say of everything that was the scariest, because until then, I don't think people realize we were hostages or the gravity of the situation."
++BLACK FRAMES++
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Velutha Parambath, passenger on board of Malaysia Airlines flight MH122:
"Speaking with fellow passengers the fact that we were left at the end of the runway and, you know, fire engines and everything surrounding us every ten, 20 minutes, but no one getting in and taking this guy, again maybe protocol, but still that I guess that was the scariest bit."
++BLACK FRAMES++
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Velutha Parambath, passenger on board of Malaysia Airlines flight MH122:
++ENDS++
STORYLINE:
An airline flight from Australia to Malaysia returned on Monday to Sydney, where a passenger was arrested hours later in what police described as an emergency incident.
"I think that's probably what scared people," Parambath added.
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