Hostage drama on Beijing-bound flight forces emergency landing in China
Male passenger detained for using fountain pen to take flight attendant captive
A domestic Air China flight to Beijing was diverted for an emergency landing on Sunday morning after a male passenger held a flight attendant hostage with a fountain pen, Chinese aviation authorities said.
Flight CA1350 from Changsha, Hunan province, landed at Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport in Henan province, the Civil Aviation Administration said in a statement on its website.
“By 13.17 the incident had been settled successfully. The passengers and crew are all safe,” the statement said.
“An investigation showed the man used a fountain pen [to take the hostage].”
Henan police said a 41-year-old man from Anhua, Hunan province, who experienced a “mental illness” during the flight, had been taken into custody over the incident, Shanghai-based online news outlet The Paper reported.
All passengers on board the flight were safely evacuated through the rear exit by 10.50am, and the man was subdued after 1pm.