Man arrested after hijack attempt on Italy-bound plane

Man arrested after hijack attempt on Italy-bound plane

2011-04-25 15:03:48 GMT+7 (ICT)

ROME (BNO NEWS) -- Crew members on board an Alitalia flight from Paris to Rome on Sunday evening subdued a passenger who apparently tried to hijack the aircraft, the airline said.

Alitalia Flight 329, an Airbus A321-112, was flying from Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris to Fiumicino Airport near Rome when one of the passengers attacked a flight attendant and made the demand to be flown to Tripoli.

"Thanks to the prompt intervention of the other flight attendants, the aggressor was immobilized in his seat and the flight continued to Fiumicino Airport where it landed normally at 9.55 p.m. [local time]," the Italian airline said in a statement.

Police had already been alerted when the plane, which was carrying 131 passengers, landed at the airport near Rome. "The assailant was transfered to police pending an investigation," Alitalia said.

It was not immediately clear why the would-be hijacker, reportedly a 48-year-old man from Kazakhstan, wanted to fly to Libya, where NATO has enforced a UN-sanctioned no-fly zone.

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