Plane Hijacking Thwarted by Alert Flight Attendant: Terrorist Attempted to Ignite Gasoline on Board China Southern Airlines Flight
Our reporter (Zhou Jiong, Beijing news) - A China Southern Airlines flight from Urumqi to Beijing encountered a dangerous situation the day before yesterday when a Uyghur female terrorist boarded the plane with a gasoline bottle intending to cause an air disaster. She was stopped, and the plane made an emergency landing at Lanzhou Airport. The specific case details are currently under investigation.
Southern Metropolis Daily reporters learned through reliable sources in Beijing that the flight took off at 10:35 AM on the morning of March 7 from Diwopu International Airport. According to the source, during the flight, a flight attendant first smelled a faint gasoline odor. Following the scent, they quickly identified an "eighteen or nineteen-year-old" Uyghur girl as the source. The flight attendant questioned her, discovered something unusual, and subsequently, the crew worked together to subdue the suspect. The source also revealed to the Southern Metropolis Daily reporter that there were at least two suspects, one being an "eighteen or nineteen-year-old girl." The flight then made an emergency landing at Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport at 12:40 PM. Fortunately, all crew members and passengers were unharmed. Authorities are still investigating the identity and motive of the suspects.
This account was largely confirmed last night in an internal urgent notice issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. It stated that the assailants were discovered by the cabin crew while attempting to ignite fuel in the restroom to blow up the plane. There were two assailants in total. Preliminary investigations revealed significant oversights in security checks at the Xinjiang airport, where security personnel missed detecting the threat, almost causing a catastrophic incident.
Nur Bekri, Chairman of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region Government, who is attending the National People's Congress in Beijing, disclosed yesterday that at around 10 AM on March 7, a China Southern Airlines flight from Urumqi to Beijing encountered an emergency. Someone on board attempted to create an air disaster but was promptly discovered by the cabin crew. After subduing the assailants, the plane made an emergency landing in Lanzhou, thwarting the terrorists' hijacking attempt. Thus, the major terrorist hijacking incident in Xinjiang on March 7 came to a close.