Cairo: An apparently drunk Sudanese passenger tried to hijack an Istanbul-Cairo Egypt Air flight and divert it to Jerusalem, but was overpowered by air marshalls, a senior official said on Thursday.
Minutes after take-off yesterday, the 26-year old man snatched a knife provided with meals for first-class passengers and put it to the neck of an air hostess, head of the Civil Aviation Authority Imad Sallam said.
He told her that the plane is now being hijacked and said, "take me to Jerusalem".
Sallam said the air marshalls at the back of the plane ran to the air hostess, overpowered the man and tied him. He seemed to have been drunk. The knife used was a plastic one.
The antecedents of the Sudanese man is currently under investigation, officials said.
The plane was carrying 87 passengers.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, October 22, 2009, 20:50