Neil Mitchell says this morning’s mid-air drama prompted by a man threatening to blow up a plane near Melbourne has highlighted several concerns about security and police response.

And he’s accused the federal and state police of being “evasive and secretive”.

“There are clearly problems,” Neil said.

“One: A person sneaks a device through security that terrifies 300 people, forced a plane to return to its base, and the say security worked well?

“Two: The police say the man responsible for this was known to them. He had mental health issues which involved police, so they were serious. Should we look at the system?

“The third problem is a big one: The passengers say they waited for up to 90 minutes after the plane landed. With this device sitting on the plane, which they thought was a bomb, and they sat there waiting 90 minutes before the police came on to deal with it? That was terrifying. Why the wait?”

“This needs a lot more attention.

“There will be scrutiny, and there must be.”

Click PLAY for Neil Mitchell’s full, unedited editorial

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