Posted on 02/07/2008 5:43:37 PM PST by RDTF
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A woman passenger on a New Zealand commuter plane stabbed both pilots and threatened to blow up the 19-seat aircraft, police said on Friday. The attack on the pilots, who were not seriously hurt, happened about 20 minutes into the flight between the South Island centers of Blenheim and Christchurch, police said.
The plane landed at Christchurch, where police with dogs boarded it and arrested a 33-year-old woman, who is originally from Somalia.
The woman was in police custody in Christchurch but the motive for the attack was still unclear, Canterbury District Commander Superintendent Dave Cliff told Reuters.
"Once the full statements are taken from the pilots and the witnesses we'll be able to get a full picture of what happened, but at the moment we're going through the process," Cliff said.
The plane was left on the runway while a bomb squad was called in, but no bomb was found on board, Cliff said.
The two pilots were taken to Christchurch hospital but their wounds were not life-threatening. One passenger and the woman were treated for minor cuts.
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(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
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Leni
After my time. I was there before the wheels came off. When I got there, every idiot kid was running around with a WWII vintage rifle. You would see bolts missing and bent barrels. Clearly there were no working firearms in the entire city. They were annoying, but harmless.
Then the Saudis (wonderful folks, the Saudis) stopped shipping in food and started shipping in weapons. Within six months, every idiot kid in town had a nice shiny new AK-47 with ammo to spare. It was time to leave.
Crummy memories, indeed.
They’ve taken over the airport in Minneapolis.
Fast food can make anyone fat, even if they are on welfare.
I thought Senator Craig did that already.
If want to buy a newspaper, magazine or stick of gum, you’ll have to buy it from one of these people.
Gee, why not? She's not a minor, so why not give her name?
Indeed buddy. Take care.
,,, Blenheim to Christchurch is a pretty short flight.
,,, how long ago was that?
We need to always be on the red alert for any threats to any plane [IE, read: innocent people], anywhere. Good post. Keep the level of vigilance and intelligence at the forefront, at all times. Keep watching. Remain on alert, 24/7, 365. Threats are increasing, not subsiding. Citizens are key to homeland defense. Now, more that ever. Watch out for AQ’s A.S. On the loose.
We were visiting New Zealand from Canada in February 2007. We noticed how lax security was for domestic flights. When we were leaving Auckland for Hawaii, we went through the first level of lax security - passengers walking through with coffee cups, shoes on, cursory glance at carry-on bags, metal detector set low. There was a secondary level of security for planes flying to Hawaii - dump the liquids, shoes off, wanding every passenger even after going through the metal detector. They definitely need to increase the level of security for domestic flights.
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