Two Qantas FA's Recovering After Being Stabbed

A 40-year old man from Melbourne, Australia, is behind bars, scheduled for a first appearance in court Friday morning, after he apparently tried to hijack a Qantas flight from Melbourne to Launceston. The man was reportedly armed with two wooden stakes, a can of aerosol and a cigarette lighter.

Drama On Climbout

It began shortly after the "fasten seatbelt" sign was extinguished aboard Qantas Flight 1737, a Boeing 717, Thursday afternoon. The suspect apparently leapt from his seat and began attacking flight attendants - and anyone else who got in his way.

"He went bananas. He attacked two people and tried to gain access to the cockpit," an airline industry source said.

Keith Charlton, one of several passengers who, once they realized what was happening, rushed the suspect, told the AAP, "He was completely silent."

Here's how Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon related the story to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation:

"About ten minutes into the flight, a male passenger got out of his seat, from the seventh row and moved towards the front of the aircraft. Soon afterwards, two flight attendants were stabbed by the passenger, using two small wooden stakes. We believe they were around 15 centimetres long. The passenger was quickly restrained by crew and other passengers. At this stage, we believe one passenger was slightly injured, but not stabbed. The aircraft returned to Melbourne and landed safely at about 3:25pm."

There were 47 passengers on board the B-717 when the scuffle began. All of them had high praise for one of the flight attendants, identified only as "Greg," who was wounded in the wooden stake attack. Bleeding profusely after being stabbed in the neck and the head, Greg put his head into the hijacker's gut and literally shoved him away from the cockpit as the hijacker tried to get to the pilots.

"The steward had a lot of blood on the back of his neck; he was good, very good, very brave," said passenger Joe Da Costa. Six or seven other passengers, including a paremedic from Canada, jumped into the fray and were able to finally subdue the suspect.

There were no Australian sky marshals on board the flight, according to government officials in Melbourne. Further, had the hijacker reached the cockpit door, which was locked, he might have been only momentarily delayed in trying to force his way to the flight deck. While Qantas is installing heavy-duty security cockpit doors on all aircraft, Flight 1737 didn't have one.

The 717 was equipped, however, with plastic restraints, which passengers and crew used to bound the man's hands, arms and legs. They then dumped him on the floor between seats and the aircraft made an emergency landing at Melbourne.

Would-Be Hijacker Was Trying To Force Crash

Federal Transport Minister John Anderson (right) said the would-be hijacker had intended to crash the aircraft. "Very shortly after take-off ... the man started to become very threatening," he told reporters. "(He) apparently headed for the cabin, and seemed to be intent upon trying to force a nasty outcome. If you call an attempt to crash an aircraft, you might call that a hijacking."

But, as is often the question these days, was this related to the global war on terror - a war in which Australia has played an important and highly visible role? "I can only say that, on the information available to me at this point in time, it does not, although it looks like it was premeditated, it doesn't appear to have been an act of terrorism," Anderson said.

Government sources told the Sydney Herald the wanna-be hijacker called out "God's will" or "Armageddon" when he was interrogated after his arrest and began talking about "God and the end of the world."

Australian Federal Police said the man was charged with attempted hijacking, two counts of being a person on board an aircraft engaged in flight committing an act of violence against a member of the aircraft. The charges were laid under the Crimes (Aviation) Act 1991 and Criminal Codes Act 1995.

In the end, the two flight attendants and two other passengers were rushed to a Melbourne hospital. The flight attendants are listed in stable condition with stab wounds to the head and neck. But Australian authorities and reporters are asking many of the same questions: How did the suspect get aboard with not one, but two wooden stakes?

FMI: www.qantas.com.au