An Aussie dad has been hailed a national hero after he took down a suspected teen gunman who allegedly stormed a Jetstar flight and screamed: ‘I’ve got bombs in my bag’.

NSW sheep farmer Barry Clark has now been granted free flights from Avalon for life after he fearlessly took down the accused gunman who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Mr Clark, a farmer and sheep shearer from Moama, in south NSW, has since been universally lauded for his bravery after the potentially high-danger incident Melbourne‘s Avalon Airport yesterday. 

The 17-year-old boy was tackled to the ground by Mr Clark and others including the pilot before police swooped and arrested the teen at Victoria’s second-biggest airport on Thursday.

Passenger Daniel Defino captured the incident on his phone.

‘The pilot saw the shotgun and that and leapt onto him and there was a guy next to us called Barry [Clark] who put him in a headlock and that’s when I started recording,’ Mr Defino told 7News.

‘He was dead silent [and] there was no emotion in his eyes at all. He looked almost fake, it was so scary.’

Mr Clark is then heard telling the pilot that he will hold the intruder down while the others worked to disarm him.

‘I don’t want to f***ing let him go. I’m not strangling you, mate, but you’re not f***ing moving alright?’ he said.

During the struggle the pilot removed what appeared to be the barrel of a shotgun.

The pilot also kicked away the gun’s stock which was already on the floor.

In the footage, the pilot can be heard urging all passengers to immediately exit the plane via the rear door.

Police alleged the teenager climbed through a hole in a fence at Avalon Airport, near Geelong, before making his way on foot to the aircraft around 2.20pm.

About 160 passengers were on board the Jetstar plane, which was due to fly to Sydney.

No one was physically harmed in the incident but bomb response officers were called to assist.

The teen faced a children’s court on Friday morning flanked by custody officers.

Police alleged the teen made bomb threats, placed a fake bomb and had stolen two shotguns and a rifle, which are among the 12 charges he is facing.

Investigators also inferred the teen’s intention was to ‘destroy, damage or endanger the safety of the aircraft or kill or injure all or any of the persons on board’.

The boy is also accused of placing a ‘faux homemade explosive’, which was intended to look like it was legitimate.

It’s also alleged the boy attempted to ‘take or exercise control, whether direct or through another person’.

He is also charged with stealing two 12 gauge shotguns and a rifle from a property in Tourello, north of Ballarat and possessing cartridge ammunition and a registered category B long-arm without the appropriate licences.

The teen was also charged with being a learner driver who was driving unsupervised on Beach Road.

The boy’s lawyer said it was his client’s first time in custody and a magistrate confirmed that meant he would be vulnerable due to his age and appearance.

The teen nodded at the magistrate who said he would be remanded in custody as he was not applying for bail.

‘You’re obviously in custody at the moment, you’ve been charged with some offences by the police, you’re not making an application for bail today,’ the magistrate told the teen.

The teen was remanded to appear back at the court on March 21.

Daily Mail Australia revealed today how Mr Clark’s son died a hero in a heartbreaking tragedy three years ago.

Mr Clark farewelled his pro boxer son Mitchell Middleton-Clark in a tearstained eulogy after he was killed in a truck crash on Kangaroo Island in South Australia in April 2022.

The 27-year-old was driving along Christmas Street near Penneshaw about 8am when he crashed down an embankment and flipped onto rocks.

He had heroically sounded the horn multiple times to warn others in his path after a mechanical failure sent the truck careering out of control.

‘He’ll never be forgotten for it, to the end, for what he done,’ Mr Clark proudly told mourners during the funeral at the family’s Perricoota Station on the banks of the Murray River.

On Thursday, his father displayed all of the characteristics he instilled in his son when he took on the 17-year old alleged hijacker.

Mr Clark had been flying to Sydney to see Swans backman Jake Lloyd play his 250th AFL game, as a mate of Lloyd’s father Tony.

One passenger hailed Mr Clark for saving the lives of everyone on board the aircraft.

‘A gentleman tried to run onto the plane, he [allegedly] got onto the plane with a loaded shotgun and knives,’ the witness told ABC radio.

‘If it wasn’t for a gentleman by the name of Barry Clark in 1C, it would have been a bloodbath.’

Talking to the ABC after the incident, a humble Mr Clark said he didn’t have time to think when he saw the flight attendant was in trouble.

‘I was just put in the box seat I suppose,’ he said.

Mr Clark said he observed the youth become agitated when he was refused entry onto the plane, which sparked him into action.

‘Before we know it, there was a gun – a shotgun appeared, and I was worried about her being shot,’ Mr Clark said.

‘So all I could do was push her out of the way and get the gun out of the way, break that, throw it down the stairs – try to – and put him in a hold and throw him to the ground until the police come.’

A former boxer himself, Mr Clark is known and loved across the region for his down-to-earth Aussie charm and no-nonsense approach.

‘You don’t think. You act,’ he said of his actions.

‘I’ve been taught from a boy to be responsible and look after others. We’re a sporting family so I was quietly confident I could handle him.

‘I didn’t want to see that poor girl shot so you just gotta to what you gotta do.’

Mr Clark revealed he spoke to the youth for about ten minutes before police finally took him away.

‘I can’t say too much at the moment because it would probably be wrong,’ he said.

‘He’s a mixed-up man, mate, it’s just one of those unfortunate things that happen in this country.

‘I spoke to him and said to him, “You know, this is Australia. This is not one of these other places in the world. We don’t need this.”

‘He’s a mixed-up young man and they’ll get to the bottom of it I suppose.’

On Friday, Australians branded Mr Clark a national treasure, with many declaring he ought never pay for a beer again in his life.

‘Barry deserves a bravery medal too,’ others suggested online,

‘I think “Doing a Barry” will now become part of our vernacular!’ another posted.

‘Barry will now be a national hero!! Thank you Barry and all who assisted him!!’