Hero Scot tells how he tackled ‘bomber’ aboard jet
A SCOT has told how he bravely subdued a man who threatened to blow up the plane he had boarded.
Robert MacDonald said he acted on ‘instinct’ after Sri Lankan Manodh Marks allegedly tried to storm the cockpit of the packed passenger jet.
The flight had just left Melbourne, Australia, heading to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Wednesday night when the terrifying drama unfolded.
The 25-year-old man, who had been released from psychiatric care that day, also attacked a female steward.
Mr MacDonald, originally from Glasgow, joined three fellow passengers to overpower Marks, who was holding a large device with antennas. The 60-year-old railway guard, who was in Australia to visit his daughter and grandchildren, said: ‘The girl called for help. It was just my instinct to help. He had four or five of us on him, quite big guys, he didn’t have a chance.
‘I heard an air hostess shouting “this guy’s crazy” and there was a commotion in the seat in front of me. We pushed the guy onto the floor and cabin crew put cords on him and secured him to the ground.’
Mr MacDonald, a father of two, now lives with his wife Karen, 59, in Milton Keynes, where he serves as a local football referee.
Yesterday, a friend said the London Midland railway guard had recently tackled a trouble-maker on a train.
Tony Ellis, 69, said: ‘There was some sort of incident and he sorted it out. He is a brave bloke with a calm manner. He is not someone to duck out of things.’
Former Australian Rules Football player Andrew Leoncelli said: ‘He started yelling louder “I need to see the pilot” and got louder and louder and they screamed for help. So I jumped up and said, “mate, get back to your seat”.
‘He was saying he was going to blow the plane up... he looked like a lunatic.’
Mr Leoncelli said the man was holding a ‘huge, metallic object’ with two short antennas.
Following the incident the Malaysia Airways flight, with 330 passengers on board, returned to Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport.
But after landing the plane sat for more than an hour before police boarded as they feared Marks had an accomplice. Armed officers then came on and detained the attacker.
Terrified passengers texted loved ones saying they thought they were going to die amid fears the device the man was carrying would explode.
Mr MacDonald told the Sydney Morning Herald: ‘When we got into the airport this guy was already pinned down so we thought it was going to be quick. Instead we spent an hour and ten minutes with a potential bomber and potential bomb on board. What was the delay?’
A spokesman for Melbourne Police said: ‘If you are on a plane in that situation, it could seem like a long wait. We have to make sure all possibilities are taken into account, including the possibility of co-offenders.’
Marks, who was living in Australia on a student visa, faces two charges under the Crimes Aviation Act. He chose not to appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court yesterday and asked for medical attention.
‘We pushed the guy on the floor’