Pilots stabbed in attack aboard New Zealand plane

The pilots were attacked about 20 minutes into the Air NewZealand flight between the South Island centres of Blenheim andChristchurch by a woman armed with a knife who demanded to beflown to Australia, police said in a statement.

Neither pilot was seriously hurt and they were able to landthe plane safely.

Their assailant tried to tamper with the controls of theplane as it was coming in to land at Christchurch and was onlydisarmed when the plane hit turbulence, police said.

Police with dogs boarded the plane and arrested a33-year-old woman, who is originally from Somalia. She waslater charged with hijacking and wounding with intent to causegrievous bodily harm and was due to appear in court inChristchurch on Saturday.

The plane was left on the runway while a bomb squad wascalled in, but no bomb was found aboard, Canterbury DistrictCommander Superintendent Dave Cliff told Reuters.

The two pilots were taken to Christchurch hospital buttheir wounds were not life-threatening. One passenger and thewoman arrested were treated for minor cuts.

The flight took off from Blenheim at 7:20 a.m. (6:20 p.m.British time) and the pilots sent a distress call at 7:40 a.m.The plane landed at Christchurch shortly after 8 a.m.

Christchurch Airport was closed to all flights for aboutthree hours after the incident.

The 19-seater Jetstream planes are used on short-haulregional flights by national carrier Air New Zealand and haveonly curtains separating the cockpit from the passenger area.

(Reporting by Adrian Bathgate; Editing by Alex Richardson)