WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A woman passenger on a New Zealand commuter plane stabbed both pilots and threatened to blow up the 19-seat aircraft, police said on Friday. The attack on the pilots, who were not seriously hurt, happened about 20 minutes into the flight between the South Island centres of Blenheim and Christchurch, police said.
The woman was in police custody in Christchurch but the motive for the attack was still unclear, Canterbury District Commander Superintendent Dave Cliff told Reuters.
The plane was left on the runway while a bomb squad was called in, but no bomb was found on board, Cliff said.
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 26 minutes after the distress call was made.
The 19-seater Jetstream planes are used on short-haul regional flights by national carrier Air New Zealand and have only curtains separating the cockpit from the passenger area.
