Alitalia plane hijack attempt by agitated Kazakh

"Are you a doctor?"

An Alitalia plane flying from Paris to Rome was briefly the subject of an attempted hijack. Luckily the man was overpowered and subdued with a sedative. A flight attendant was slightly injured by his knife. Such stories are rare these days as security is supposedly tight. However, he had on his person a "small knife". This got through the rigorous French testing. Maybe he told them it was a cultural thing. Still, a knife is a knife and can cause damage whatever its size.

The inept hijacker is said to come from Kazakhstan and wanted the plane diverted to Tripoli. What for, one wonders. He was "clearly agitated" a spokesman from Alitalia said. Clearly! Maybe he had an idea to relieve the city by swooping down to the airport and gathering up disaffected Libyans? Agitated people are unstable people and it was a happy co-incidence a doctor was on the flight. I now think it a good idea for at least one medical doctor to be on all flights. This is more so after the appalling incident with the BBC reporter on a Singapore Airlines flight. Thankfully, he too was attended by a doctor who was on the flight. Anyone taken seriously ill on a plane will have to spend some time appealing to the pilot. Australians have flying doctors. We probably need a lot more doctors flying, like Dr. Liam Fox, who has dealt with four such incidents apparently.

Airlines are now so strapped for cash that the very thought of diverting a plane is unthinkable. Revenue streams going forward must be protected. So it was a gallant thing passengers did on that Alitalia flight. Spot of hijacking.? Let's subdue the so-and-so! We've got to get to Rome. The doctor was on hand with the sedative. All that remained to happen was for the Carabinieri to be waiting on the tarmac.

Posted in: Alitalia,hijackings,planes