PETALING JAYA: Former Australian Rules football player Andrew Leon­celli has praised the courage displayed by two flight attendants who played a key role in defusing the tense situation aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH128.

He said the senior of the two showed true leadership when Sri Lan­kan Manodh Monaragala Marks demanded entry into the cockpit and threatened to blow up the plane on June 1.

“She was very brave and alerted the rest of the passengers to the situation and did a terrific job,” Leon­celli said.

“We never got to thank her because they separated the crew from the passengers afterwards,” he told The Star yesterday at a property event.

Leoncelli, the managing director of a real estate services firm in Victoria, said he realised that he needed to step in when he heard an altercation between Marks and the crew members.

He said one flight attendant yelled, “I need some help” during the heated argument which flared up just minutes after takeoff.

Leoncelli said he rushed to help the crew and saw Marks holding a “big black object” and threatening to “do it”.

“We stood our ground against Marks who then retreated down an aisle.”

He said three or four of the other passengers then tackled Marks and immobilised him on the floor.

Leoncelli said to everyone’s relief, Marks’ device turned out to be a Bluetooth speaker.

The plane returned to Melbourne’s Tullamarine Air­port and Marks was taken into custody by police.

Marks, in Australia on a student visa, has been charged with endangering the safety of an aircraft and making false threats.