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Hijack drama: No terror link
18/06/2006 08:02 - (SA)
Marlene Malan, Rapport
Cape Town - The 21-year-old Zimbabwean student who attempted to hijack a domestic SAA flight on Saturday wanted the plane redirected from Johannesburg to Maputo.
According to senior police sources the man's name is Tanish. They also speculated that he could be mentally ill and said at this stage it appears as if he has no links with any terror groups.
The hijack drama of flight SA 322 started about 35 minutes after the plane took-off at 09:40 from Cape Town International Airport.
The man allegedly demanded access to the cockpit and, when denied, he threatened an air hostess with a syringe.
Three male passengers then jumped up and tackled the man. One of the men who struggled with the hijacker was an off-duty pilot and he was stabbed in the hand.
A senior police source told Rapport newspaper that the air hostess was also stabbed but this was denied by SAA.
SAA said that the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) is responsible for the security screening of passengers.
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