It added: "Following the incident on MH128, the disruptive passenger has been apprehended by airport security".
According to a passenger, about 30 minutes into the flight a male passenger attacked a female member of the cabin crew who screamed out for help.
"He was saying: 'I'm going to the blow the f...ing plane up, I'm going to blow the plane up, '" passenger Andrew Leoncelli told Australian Broadcasting Corp on Thursday.
"That's when he was detained by other passengers I believe".
Safety and security are of utmost priority to malaysia airlines. "If there was an explosive device. the sudden removal of the passengers could cause difficulty".
While passengers suggested he was armed with a "detonator".
He said the man ran down the plane towards the back, but was grabbed and disarmed of a black object "the size of a watermelon" which had two antennae and what appeared to be a smartphone input.
No-one is believed to have been injured.
Kuala Lumpur-bound Flight MH128 departed Melbourne at 11:11pm (1311 GMT) on Wednesday but turned back shortly afterwards when a man allegedly threatened those on board, Australian police said.
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According to a statement released by the airlines, the flight was forced to return due to a disruptive passenger.
"MH128 safely landed in Melbourne Airport at 11:41pm", the airline said in a statement.
The flight had only left the airport a few minutes before the incident with the passenger began.
"An investigation led by Australian authorities is now underway and Malaysia Airlines wishes to extend its appreciation to everyone involved during the emergency situation", it said in a statement. "Malaysia Airlines would like to stress that at no point was the aircraft "hijacked". All passengers safely disembarked from the plane.
Interestingly, even after the plane landed the police did not appear on the scene until an hour and a half.
After flight staff intercepted the man, he was subdued by other passengers, Ashton said.
"He attempted to gain access to the cockpit and was restrained by passengers and crew", a spokesman said on the Nine Network. Later that same voice confirms the man had been subdued, but confirmed that they meant to land and have the device checked.
Melbourne's Tullamarine airport was briefly closed during the incident but has since reopened, airport authorities said.
The airport was closed for some time but has reopened.
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