A woman passenger on a small commuter plane in New Zealand stabbed at least one of the two pilots and threatened to blow up the aircraft, police have said.
The 33-year-old was restrained after being forced out of the cockpit and arrested on arrival in Christchurch.
The Jetstream aircraft operated by Eagle Air was carrying seven passengers from the provincial town of Blenheim.
Christchurch airport was closed for two hours. Bomb disposal experts searched the aircraft but found no explosives.
“I saw a dog go in, the passengers came out in a rush. Then the woman came out, was bundled to the ground and searched by police and taken away,” a passenger on another plane, Wayne Johnstone, told the website, Stuff.co.nz.
Christchurch police commander Dave Cliff said one of the two pilots on board the plane had suffered a cut hand in the attack, and the other an injured foot, although other reports said only one of the pilots had been hurt.
None of the other passengers were injured, police said, although at least three people were reportedly taken from the airport by ambulance.
Passengers boarding short-haul flights at airports in New Zealand do not routinely pass through security checks.
By: steve rowell - 8th February 2008 at 06:49
Thank goodness it didn’t end up a catastrophe
By: jase1 - 8th February 2008 at 03:14
She wasnt a Kiwi though, she is a Somali and my partner who works at a local bank knows who she is and she is a nasty bit of work!
Needs to be shot for putting her fellow passengers through this ordeal!
Well done to the Air-Crew for dealing with this drama:mad:
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February 8, 2008 at 2:53 am