Pilot stabbed on N Zealand plane

[[R_H]]

BBC

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.

[Spyder]

Yes, planes travelling between Blenheim and Christchurch, the ultimate symbol of western decadance.

[weemadando]

TERRORISM!

Just wait for Australia to send in the troops to pacify the South Island which has clearly become an AQ stronghold.

[Stuart Mackey]

TERRORISM!

Just wait for Australia to send in the troops to pacify the South Island which has clearly become an AQ stronghold.

40 000 NZers moved to Australia last year, you attack us here, when we undermine you in your own back yard, you infidel scum!! Victory is ours!

[weemadando]

Please do. Seriously.

Please...

[Stuart Mackey]

Please do. Seriously.

Please...

Jesus mate, its not that bad..step away from the open window eh?

[weemadando]

Please do. Seriously.

Please...

Jesus mate, its not that bad..step away from the open window eh?[/quote

Well, at least Howard isn't PM anymore. I guess that's something.

[Stuart Mackey]

Please do. Seriously.

Please...

Jesus mate, its not that bad..step away from the open window eh?

Well, at least Howard isn't PM anymore. I guess that's something.

Yeah, just watch Rudd's religious tendencies.

[weemadando]

Jesus mate, its not that bad..step away from the open window eh?

Well, at least Howard isn't PM anymore. I guess that's something.

Yeah, just watch Rudd's religious tendencies.

Tendencies? You mean his fundie slavering that he doesn't even have the good taste to inhibit?

[Stuart Mackey]

Well, at least Howard isn't PM anymore. I guess that's something.

Yeah, just watch Rudd's religious tendencies.

Tendencies? You mean his fundie slavering that he doesn't even have the good taste to inhibit?

Indeed, somewhat distasteful, is it not?

[Spin Echo]

Ah. New Zealand. The only place left in the world, I suspect, where you are told to circle directly over the capital building at 2500 ft while waiting for clearance to land.

[Spin Echo]

Deja vu. Apparently the woman that attacked the pilots was Somalian. Norway didn't used to make their short hop flights go through security either ... until a disgruntled somalian attacked the pilots of a Dash 8 with an ax.

[Stuart Mackey]

Ah. New Zealand. The only place left in the world, I suspect, where you are told to circle directly over the capital building at 2500 ft while waiting for clearance to land.

The terrorists thought about using this fact and dismissed the idea, as the existence of NZ politicians was a greater punishment on our godless infidel ways than anything they could achieve.

[Stuart Mackey]

Deja vu. Apparently the woman that attacked the pilots was Somalian. Norway didn't used to make their short hop flights go through security either ... until a disgruntled somalian attacked the pilots of a Dash 8 with an ax.

From what I have seen on the Herald website, the lady in question sounded to be a sandwich short of a picnic.

[Spyder]

Caught it on nightline. Sounds like she was demanding they fly her to Australia. Probably didn't think her cunning plan all the way through.

Please do. Seriously.

Please...

You're welcome to join us over here, there'd be a pay cut and our public transport sucks and if you're living in low cost accommodation there's going to be...problems...but apart from that and a few other issues that I've forgotten about, it's all good.

Ah. New Zealand. The only place left in the world, I suspect, where you are told to circle directly over the capital building at 2500 ft while waiting for clearance to land.

They like planes flying around it, makes it look important.

[Glocksman]

Ah. New Zealand. The only place left in the world, I suspect, where you are told to circle directly over the capital building at 2500 ft while waiting for clearance to land.

The terrorists thought about using this fact and dismissed the idea, as the existence of NZ politicians was a greater punishment on our godless infidel ways than anything they could achieve.

Given our current crop of Presidential aspirants (with the exception perhaps of Barack Obama), I could argue the same WRT the USA.

[Spyder]

Fat-arse link in a girdle

A 33-year-old woman will appear in Christchurch District Court today accused of hijacking an Air New Zealand plane amid calls for tighter security measures on small aircraft.

Asha Ali Abdille, a Somali national from Blenheim, faces charges of attempted hijacking, wounding and injuring with intent to injure.

She allegedly attacked the pilot of a Beechcraft aircraft with a knife and interfered with the plane's controls as it approached Christchurch Airport from Blenheim yesterday morning.

The 19-seater with two pilots and seven passengers aboard landed safely during a full emergency alert at 8:06am.

The incident has led to calls for tighter security measures for all passengers flying around the country.

Under present laws, although it is prohibited to carry sharp objects or weapons in hand luggage, passengers on aircraft carrying fewer than 90 people do not have to be screened.

"This just demonstrates how serious one incident can be, and all for the lack of what? Screening procedures?" New Zealand First MP Ron Mark said last night.

"It's a hell of a lot more inconvenient to have an aircraft go through the roof of your house, or have the whole airport shut down just because of the lack of screening at an airport in Blenheim," he told The New Zealand Herald.

Transport Minister Annette King said she was expecting reports about the incident from police and aviation security early next week, and would be guided by any recommendations.

But she said present security met international standards including those of the United States, and it was important not to overreact to one incident.

Blenheim Airport operations manager Kelly Byrne said it was her understanding was that the would-be hijacker "did not display any symptoms" that may have alerted staff when they boarded her.

Mr Byrne said Blenheim Airport was not a security designated airfield.

Even if it was, it probably would not have made a difference, he told The Press.

"Obviously what has happened is a concern, it makes the public uneasy, but we have to remember it is a fairly isolated incident."

One of the pilots on board the plane received severe cuts to his hand during the incident and underwent surgery yesterday.

His co-pilot was treated at Christchurch Hospital for a foot injury and was discharged.

A woman passenger suffered a minor cut to her hand while trying to subdue the woman and was treated by ambulance staff.

None of the other passengers - four New Zealanders, an Australian and an Indian national - were hurt.

Canterbury police district commander Superintendent Dave Cliff said the hijacker was armed with a knife and claimed to have two bombs in her luggage.

However, army bomb disposal experts from Burnham military base, south of Christchurch, and specialist police staff found no explosive devices on the plane.

"During the flight demands were allegedly made by the suspect to take the plane to Australia," Mr Cliff said.

Abdille has been described as a profoundly troubled woman.

"She was someone who was totally unable to function without major conflict," a source who knew her well told NZPA.

The source said the woman had a long history of battles with government departments and other authority figures dating back to the time she arrived in New Zealand from a refugee camp as a 19-year-old in 1994.

Abdille was also involved in high profile political stoushes - being accused by New Zealand first leader Winston Peters in the House in 2004 of trying to manipulate the system to bring 14 relatives to New Zealand.

- NZPA

She might have been given refugee status, but something tells me she's heading for the asylum and not of the political kind.

Pro-tip, jacking a plane does not make the immigration process any easier.

[Stuart Mackey]

I knew it, shes lost her marbles.

[Spyder]

I knew it, shes lost her marbles.

She tried to jack a flight between Blenheim and Christchurch, I don't think anyone really had any high expectations here.

[wjs7744]

Quite clearly she hadn't thought it through, but what was the range of the aircraft? Would it have even been able to fly to australia if it wanted to?

[Stuart Mackey]

Quite clearly she hadn't thought it through, but what was the range of the aircraft? Would it have even been able to fly to australia if it wanted to?

No. I am not sure if the Lear could manage it on a full tank, but the plane would not have had a full tank for such a flight, its a waste of money.

[Broomstick]

Quite clearly she hadn't thought it through, but what was the range of the aircraft? Would it have even been able to fly to australia if it wanted to?

No. I am not sure if the Lear could manage it on a full tank, but the plane would not have had a full tank for such a flight, its a waste of money.

>sigh< Beechcraft and Lear are two completely different airplane makers Not to mention that Beechcraft doesn't make Jetstream, it's a British Aerospace product. It would be nice if the media could get even that much straight. Determining how far such an aircraft could fly is a bit difficult if you can't figure out which aircraft it is. There are aircraft in that size range that can fly from US locations to European locations, I presume such would also be able to handle a New Zealand to Australia flight - provided there was enough fuel on board. Such aircraft, as pointed out, usually only carry sufficient fuel for the planned trip (including a safety margin for delays), which is not necessarily a full tank.

As for the security issue - here in the US such flights are not required to search passengers but it is certainly an option, and flying out of certain airports searching would occur for any commercial passenger. The lack of mandate is to accommodate charter flights where everyone on board is known to one another, and situations like corporate jets where, again, the passengers are much more a known quantity than 19 strangers boarding an airplane. In the US the latter is not required to be security screened, but if it's a shuttle operated by an airline it's quite likely to be screened anyhow - it really is at the option of the operator.

[Stuart Mackey]

Quite clearly she hadn't thought it through, but what was the range of the aircraft? Would it have even been able to fly to australia if it wanted to?

No. I am not sure if the Lear could manage it on a full tank, but the plane would not have had a full tank for such a flight, its a waste of money.

>sigh< Beechcraft and Lear are two completely different airplane makers Not to mention that Beechcraft doesn't make Jetstream, it's a British Aerospace product. It would be nice if the media could get even that much straight.

Grrr, I read that in a media report, stupid me.

snip. Such aircraft, as pointed out, usually only carry sufficient fuel for the planned trip (including a safety margin for delays), which is not necessarily a full tank.

Thought so

As for the security issue - here in the US such flights are not required to search passengers but it is certainly an option, and flying out of certain airports searching would occur for any commercial passenger. The lack of mandate is to accommodate charter flights where everyone on board is known to one another, and situations like corporate jets where, again, the passengers are much more a known quantity than 19 strangers boarding an airplane. In the US the latter is not required to be security screened, but if it's a shuttle operated by an airline it's quite likely to be screened anyhow - it really is at the option of the operator.

NZ under 90 seater security may well change. It wont be difficult at the main airports, just an extention of a screen, but there will be steepish costs at the smaller airports to put the nessary security gear in.

[Broomstick]

Commercial aircraft is not my main area of expertise, but if I recall in the US it's not based on seats but on the weight of the airplane - 12,500 lbs is the cut-off. I believe the rationale is that airplanes that size and larger are the ones posing the greatest threat. It's not that smaller planes can't cause damage, but a 2 or 4 seat Cessna isn't going to take down a skyscraper. I think there may also be something about a 20 passenger limit, but I'm pretty sure there's a strong overlap between 20 seats and 12,500 or more pounds.

Also, in the US there are communities that are heavily dependent on air travel and transport - the FAA has to be careful not to cut off people who need airplanes while maintaining an acceptable level of security. I don't know what the situation is in New Zealand. Cutting off small and isolated communities in the name of "security" rapidly became unacceptable in the US. I do know that there are certain airports that if I landed at one, by myself, I would still have to go through security prior to entering any areas used by commercial passengers or crew, and would likewise have to go through security prior to returning to my airplane. Then again, the US has so many airports (over 5,000) that for small scale commercial flights such as described in many instances they could simply switch to another airport relatively close by that already had security equipment installed.

In other words, the situation between the US and New Zealand has some significant differences - saying "it meets both international and US standards" doesn't really say whether or not security in a situation is appropriate for the needs of New Zealand or that location.

[Stuart Mackey]

snip

In other words, the situation between the US and New Zealand has some significant differences - saying "it meets both international and US standards" doesn't really say whether or not security in a situation is appropriate for the needs of New Zealand or that location.

Indeed. NZ is about the same size as the UK, and you dont need airtravel from the smaller towns, with a few exceptions due to terrain, as one is in driving distance of most places that have an airport, nice to have but a luxury.