Sept. 30, 2004
The pilot, co-pilot and a passenger on a domestic Norwegian flight have been injured by an axe-wielding passenger believed to have attempted to crash the plane.
Minutes before the small Dornier 228 aircraft run by the Kato Airline was due to land in the northern Norwegian town of Bodoe, one of seven passengers on board walked to the cockpit and attacked the pilot and co-pilot before being overpowered by two other passengers.
“The situation was highly dramatic. The plane was only 100 feet (30 metres) off the ground when the pilots were attacked. They fought off the attacker while trying to gain control over the plane,” police official Margrete Torseter said.
The pilots and one passenger received slight head wounds during their struggle with the attacker and are in a stable condition.
Police say the assault by an Algerian-born man in his 30s may be related to his application for asylum being rejected by authorities.
The man has lived in Norway since December 2002 but had his asylum status refuse in May.
Witnesses said they were convinced the man’s intention was to crash the plane.
After successfully landing, the man was detained by police and examined by a doctor who recommended that he be confined to a psychiatric hospital.
“The suspect told the doctor that he does not remember anything about what happened on board the plane,” a statement by Bodoe police said.
Authorities believe the man carried the hatchet onto the flight which took off from Narvik, also in northern Norway.
Security procedures there rely on “the good, old fashioned system as it was in the past where you just get on a plane,” said Nils Rognli, Narvik airport’s director for the civil aviation authority Avinor.
Screening is not due to be installed at all of Norway’s airports until January 1 next year, which will bring the system into line with a European directive that all passengers and carry-on luggage be checked by metal detectors.
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