Inside the terrifying moment suspected bomber threatens staff and passengers on board Sydney flight

A man carrying a backpack on a flight from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur was heard using the word “bomb”, scaring the nearly 200 passengers and crew on board.

Muhammad Arif carried his backpack on his chest as he stood up in the aisle of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH122 on August 14, 2023 and arguing with other travelers.

Arif, 46, prayed, sang and laughed before the plane even took off from Sydney that afternoon, with the crew moving “concerned passengers” to other seats.

But 90 minutes into the flight, these concerns quickly evolved into an air emergency when “a number of passengers witnessed the perpetrator using the word ‘bomb’,” according to the agreed facts obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald.

Two crew members tried to seat Arif again and prevented him from moving towards the cockpit.

He pointed to one of the flight attendants and called them “dajjal,” which means antichrist in Arabic. He also told them to “go back” and “get lost.”

As they tried to coax Arif back to his seat, he found himself with his hand in his backpack.

“Don’t touch, don’t touch, don’t touch my bag,” he said. “If you love your life, don’t touch my bag. If you love your life, if you love Allah, don’t touch my bag.’

Arif said “Allahu akbar” — a Muslim prayer meaning “God is greatest” — dozens of times and one of the crew members put a hand on the backpack, court documents show.

‘Don’t come near my bag. If you come near my bag it could explode,” he said. ‘You have to go back. You have no idea what I have here, so go back.”

When a passenger told him he could “knock him out in two seconds,” Arif said “do it,” adding that the man had the heart of a mouse.

Arif, whose marriage was on the rocks and who had just quit his job as a security guard in Canberra, then told a female passenger he was going to count to three.

This prompted a flight attendant, who feared ‘for the safety of the aircraft’, to report what was happening to the captain of the Airbus A330, which was now flying over north-west NSW.

The captain notified air traffic control “of the offender making threats regarding explosives,” turned the plane around and flew back to Sydney, landing at 3:47 p.m.

There were 199 people on the plane, with Arif originally in seat 21G on a one-way ticket to Pakistan via the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur and Oman.

The plane was stuck on the tarmac for three hours, severely disrupting airport operations.

More than 30 flights were canceled and others delayed, with the airport only able to use one runway as emergency services surrounded the Malaysia Airlines plane.

From 4:55 PM to 5:05 PM, Arif stood in the aisle and said, “This was all a hoax. This was all acting. I used to be an actor.

‘I know I might go to jail now. I don’t care. This was a test from God, for them, for a Muslim to fight against a Muslim, to save you. And you say bomb, you bomb, it burns in my heart.’

At around 6:30 p.m., Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers boarded the plane and arrested Arif.

The A330 and Arif’s assets were checked for bombs, but no explosives were found.

“A contingency plan was put in place and an evacuation was initiated as soon as it was deemed safe for passengers and crew,” the AFP said at the time.

Arif refused to answer police questions and was taken to a hospital for a mental health check.

The next morning he was deemed ‘fit’ for custody by doctors and was held for four months before being released on bail.

A woman on the run posted on social media platform X that she had “never been so scared.”

Another told a TV crew that she knew the plane had turned around because she could see it on the screen during the flight.

Court documents show Arif bought a $51 bus ticket to Sydney and then bought a plane ticket at a Flight Center branch at the international airport.

He also withdrew $6,000 in cash from an ATM, then walked back and forth for “about an hour” before boarding at gate 50 and sitting with his backpack on his lap.

Before the flight took off, he was told to put his bag in the overhead locker or he wouldn’t be allowed to fly.

Arif pleaded guilty to making a false statement regarding a plan, proposal, attempt, conspiracy or threat to destroy, damage or endanger Malaysia Airlines flight MH122.

He was sentenced to fourteen months’ imprisonment, to be served as an intensive corrections order in the community by Judge David Barrow.

The terms of the order, which expires in February 2026, mean that Arif must not reoffend and must comply with directions regarding his mental health treatment, including the advice of a psychiatrist.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Malaysia Airlines for comment.