A Malaysia Airlines flight from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur returned to the Australian airport shortly after take off Wednesday after a passenger attempted to enter the cockpit, authorities said. Passengers and crew on Flight MH128 tackled the man and tied him up with seat belts until the flight landed, one witness said. The plane landed safely and the man was apprehended by airport security, said Malaysia Airlines. Police said the incident was not terrorism-related and a 25-year old man, understood to be an Australian citizen, had been taken into custody. "It was an isolated incident and we do believe he suffers from a mental illness," Superintendent Michael Goode of the Australian Federal Police said Thursday. Arif Chaudhery, a passenger on board MH128, said that about 30 minutes into the flight a male passenger attacked a female member of the cabin crew who screamed out for help. "Some passengers and crew grabbed the man and tackled him to the floor," Chaudhery said, adding that seat belts were used to tie the man's hands. Armed security personnel entered the plane to remove the man and escort other passengers off the aircraft, he said. Melbourne's Tullamarine airport was briefly closed during the incident but has since reopened, airport authorities said.<br/>
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Airberlin reported a first-quarter net loss of E293.3m, widened from a E182.3m net loss in the year-ago period as a result of turnaround measures. Revenue fell 11.9% to E649.6m, while expenses increased 1.9% to E930.5m, producing an operating loss of E272.3m, deepened from a E172.2m operating loss in the prior-year quarter. Etihad Airways equity partner airberlin is repositioning itself as a network airline, with a fleet of 75 aircraft operating from two key hubs at Berlin and Dusseldorf. The majority of this transition will happen in the first half of 2017. “It is to be expected that any changes made to the network during this transitional phase can result in some intermittent fluctuations in efficiency and utilization,” airberlin said. “These fluctuations had a significant effect on the operating development in the reporting quarter. As a result, the 2017 first-quarter operating and financial results and key figures cannot be compared to the previous year’s figures.” The numbers were also hit by adverse weather, strikes and capacity bottlenecks at Berlin Tegel, the airline said.<br/>