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Woman
passenger attacks pilots on New Zealand domestic flight |
WELLINGTON,
New Zealand (AP) -- A knife-wielding woman
tried to hijack a regional domestic flight
in New Zealand Friday, stabbing both pilots
and threatening to blow up the
twin-propeller plane before she was subdued,
police said.
The wounded pilots were able to land the
plane safety in Christchurch, causing chaos
at the popular tourist city's airport as
police and emergency crews rushed onto the
tarmac to arrest the suspect, evacuate the
six passengers and search the plane for
bombs.
The airport was closed for about three
hours.
Air New Zealand, the national carrier who
operated the flight through a charter
company, said it was reviewing security
measures nationally following the incident.
In New Zealand, passengers and their luggage
on short haul flights are not subject to
security checks.
Christchurch police Commander Dave Cliff
said the 33-year-old woman, originally from
Somalia, attacked the pilots about 10
minutes into the flight from the regional
city of Blenheim, 40 miles south of the
capital of Wellington, to Christchurch,
about 220 miles south of the capital.
After the woman had been subdued, the pilots
made emergency radio calls reporting that
the attacker said there were two bombs
aboard the plane, Cliff said.
Army and police bomb squads searched the
plane and luggage on, but found no
explosives.
During the ordeal, the woman demanded to be
flown to Australia -- a destination that was
beyond the Jetstream aircraft's range.
The woman, who was not named, was charged
with attempted hijacking, wounding and other
offenses. She was due to appear in court in
Christchurch on Saturday, police said.
The pilot suffered a severely cut hand in
the attack, and the co-pilot was injured on
the foot, Cliff said. One passenger suffered
a minor hand injury caused by the attacker,
Cliff said. He did not explain how the woman
was subdued.
The passengers included four New Zealanders,
an Australian and an Indian national.
"Today's incident, although a one-off, has
naturally given us cause to conduct a
thorough review of our safety and security
systems and processes on regional domestic
flights," said Air New Zealand's general
manager of short-haul airlines, Bruce Parton.
New Zealand last year adopted legislation
allowing armed air marshals on international
flights, but only if other nation's required
such measures. There are no marshals on
domestic flights.
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