The man, identified as Antonio Casale, 35, sent the messages to his wife as 'a joke' after leaving Sydney on a Lauda Austrian Airlines flight to Vienna last Sunday night.
Casale, who was traveling to Vienna via Kuala Lumpur, sent the messages during a refuelling stop in the Malaysian capital, saying armed terrorists were in control of the aircraft and taking it to an unknown destination.
His frantic wife contacted the Italian police, who contacted the Italian embassy in Canberra, who in turn contacted Australian Federal Police (AFP), fearing a September 11 style terrorist attack.
A spokesman for the Australian Deputy Prime
"We certainly don't need idiots carrying on the way this passenger apparently was," Anderson was quoted as saying.
The pilot of the plane was contacted by counter-terrorism negotiators mid-air, who found him oblivious to any hijacking attempt.
The flight was allowed to continue and local authorities arrested the man on his arrival in Vienna.
"He sent an SMS to his wife saying the aeroplane had been hijacked and was being diverted," Vienna Airport police chief Dr Leo Lauber said. However, Casale was freed without charge after deciding there was no malice behind the ill-judged prank, he said.
"He did not mean any harm to anybody and he said sorry for the mistake."
