Yeah....whack job got and screamed he was al Qaeda.....if he did that on an American airliner, he would have had his ass kicked so fast......thank God no one was hurt.....how come these guys like planes so much.....how about jumping onto a battlefield and trying to take on the 82nd Airborne...then well see who's left standing.....

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Replying to:

Jet Lands in France After Hijack Attempt

1 hour, 7 minutes ago Add Top Stories - AP to My Yahoo!







LYON, France (AP) - A man attempted to hijack an Alitalia plane carrying at least 57 passengers Wednesday, but gave himself up after the jet landed in the southern French city of Lyon, officials said.







Authorities in Lyon, France's second-largest city, said all passengers had gotten off the plane and that the incident was over. Earlier, one official spoke of "a terrorist on board."





Italian carrier Alitalia said in a statement that an MD-80 jet was en route to Paris from Bologna when it was diverted to Lyon.





"The hijacking has ended without any consequence," Alitalia said, giving no other details.





A spokesperson for the National Police in Paris said "the incident was over, without injuries and that a man had given himself up."





Local authorities in Lyon said 67 passengers and seven crew members were on board. However, Alitalia said in a statement that 57 passengers were on board, and it was unclear why there was a discrepancy.





Enzo Bianco, head of the Italian parliamentary committee on secret services, said the suspect had been "disarmed and captured," the Italian news agency Ap.Biscom reported.





"This makes us breathe a sigh of relief at the help from the French police who captured this sole hijacker," he said.





Police said the plane was flying over Switzerland when the suspect got out of his seat, brandished a rectangular box that he claimed was a bomb and threatened to blow up the plane.





According to police, the man then declared: "I belong an al-Qaida network, I want to make a declaration to the press."





It was unclear whether he forced the plane to land in Lyon or whether the pilot chose to land there. But police sources said there was no bomb on board.



The suspect was arrested by a French SWAT team at the Lyon airport.



An official of the Enac civil aviation agency, Loredana Rosati, said the suspect was Italian.



The diversion of the plane comes as France has been on the lookout for terrorist actions.



French police have arrested at least 18 people in recent days suspected of being involved in terrorist groups, and Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said in an interview published this week that France was a leading target of terrorist groups.



Early Wednesday, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy told the lower house of Parliament that authorities were exercising "extreme vigilance" against an attack.

Here is the full story to date. I doubt that Al Italia has less security than any American Airline, as suggested by James. Wasnt it an American Airlines jet bound for Miami last December that allowed the notorious "Shoe Bomber" on board...and that was well after security had been tightened after September 11. There is only so much that can be done, and gung ho statements dont help



An Italian plane has been hijacked by a mentally ill man claiming to be a member of the al-Qaeda network.

The plane, flying from Bologna to Paris, landed at Lyon in France where the man surrendered and passengers were freed unharmed, the national police service told BBC News Online.

It later emerged the man had a history of hijackings, raising questions about how he had managed to secure a seat on the plane.

Fifty-seven passengers and seven crew were on the MD-80 plane, flight AZ364/AF9851, Alitalia said in a statement.

No-one was injured during the incident.

The plane was hijacked while flying over Swiss airspace, say police.

Italian authorities say they have identified the man as a former policeman, thought to be aged around 30 .

They say that three years ago he attempted unsuccessfully to hijack a Moroccan airliner flying from Marseille to Paris and on another occasion he tried to hijack a high-speed train in Italy, breaking into the driver's compartment, the BBC's Rome correspondent David Willey reports.

The man's mother, on learning that her son had hijacked a plane, reacted by saying: "My God, he's done it again!", said Italian newspaper La Repubblica website.

The drama began shortly after take-off.

"A man got up from his seat, went to the middle of the aircraft and, holding a small box, shouted: I'm a terrorist, I belong to al-Qaeda, and I'm going to blow up the aircraft," La Chaine Info (LCI) TV channel reported.

Police do not believe the man was armed.

"He was carrying a remote control device which he said was linked to a bomb," spokesman Gerard Laurent told BBC News Online.

At that point, the pilot called the control tower and it was decided to divert the plane to Lyon, the nearest French airport, LCI said.

Special police units were called to the scene, said Mr Laurent, and arrested the man when he surrendered.

The plane was bound for Paris Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport.

Most of the passengers were allowed to get off the plane at Lyon's Saint-Exupery airport, shortly after landing.

The plane had taxied to the end of a runway.

Alitalia confirmed in a statement that an attempt to hijack the plane had been foiled.

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Replying to:

Jet Lands in France After Hijack Attempt

1 hour, 7 minutes ago Add Top Stories - AP to My Yahoo!







LYON, France (AP) - A man attempted to hijack an Alitalia plane carrying at least 57 passengers Wednesday, but gave himself up after the jet landed in the southern French city of Lyon, officials said.







Authorities in Lyon, France's second-largest city, said all passengers had gotten off the plane and that the incident was over. Earlier, one official spoke of "a terrorist on board."





Italian carrier Alitalia said in a statement that an MD-80 jet was en route to Paris from Bologna when it was diverted to Lyon.





"The hijacking has ended without any consequence," Alitalia said, giving no other details.





A spokesperson for the National Police in Paris said "the incident was over, without injuries and that a man had given himself up."





Local authorities in Lyon said 67 passengers and seven crew members were on board. However, Alitalia said in a statement that 57 passengers were on board, and it was unclear why there was a discrepancy.





Enzo Bianco, head of the Italian parliamentary committee on secret services, said the suspect had been "disarmed and captured," the Italian news agency Ap.Biscom reported.





"This makes us breathe a sigh of relief at the help from the French police who captured this sole hijacker," he said.





Police said the plane was flying over Switzerland when the suspect got out of his seat, brandished a rectangular box that he claimed was a bomb and threatened to blow up the plane.





According to police, the man then declared: "I belong an al-Qaida network, I want to make a declaration to the press."





It was unclear whether he forced the plane to land in Lyon or whether the pilot chose to land there. But police sources said there was no bomb on board.



The suspect was arrested by a French SWAT team at the Lyon airport.



An official of the Enac civil aviation agency, Loredana Rosati, said the suspect was Italian.



The diversion of the plane comes as France has been on the lookout for terrorist actions.



French police have arrested at least 18 people in recent days suspected of being involved in terrorist groups, and Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said in an interview published this week that France was a leading target of terrorist groups.



Early Wednesday, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy told the lower house of Parliament that authorities were exercising "extreme vigilance" against an attack.