Shenzhen Airlines, China - A Chinese civilian tried to set a fire on board a flight in the early hours of Sunday. He was restrained by the fellow passengers and the cabin crew members.
The man attempted to light a fire on a Shenzhen Airlines flight with the help of a gasoline and a cigarette lighter.
The carrier of a Chinese airline took off from the city of Taizhou and was heading to its destination Guangzhou, an industrial city in South China.
The distressful incident occurred at around 1:00 am Sunday aboard a Shenzhen Airlines flight, reported by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
The pilot conveyed an emergency call to the nearby Air Traffic Control (ATC) after the attempted explosion of the aircraft. The security forces were alerted and the emergency slides were deployed for evacuation of the passengers at the Guangzhou airport.
As soon as the plane landed at the destination a total of 104 people exited using the slides including 95 passengers and nine crew members.
The man was taken into custody by the airport security officials. In addition, two people were injured during overpowering the pyromaniac.
The current incident is a serious breach in airport security where carrying lighters and flammable substances aboard all flights are banned.
Civil Aviation officials said that an investigation in underway to find out the security lapse at Taizhou Luqiao Airport and the man’s possible motivation.
The most recent airport security breach reported last month, when a former police chief, traveling from Bangkok to Japan, was detained in Tokyo when X-ray check detected a gun in his luggage.
Since the September 11 attacks, the countries around the globe have increased the security at all domestic and international ports of entries to impose safety and thorough measures. IMAGE/flyawaysimulation
