A man who wanted to "soar through the air" hijacked a Japanese Boeing 747 "jumbo" jet with 517 people on board yesterday. He fatally stabbed the pilot and briefly took control of the plane before he was overpowered.
Police said the All Nippon Airways (ANA) jet landed safely at Tokyo's Haneda Airport after the co-pilot and off-duty crew stormed the cockpit and wrested control from the hijacker.
A sudden lurch in the packed plane as the hijacker tried to pilot the 747 allowed ANA personnel to subdue the hijacker, who had forced the co-pilot out of the cockpit shortly after take-off about an hour earlier.
By the time police boarded, the hijacker was pinned against the pilot's seat and tied up with neckties and ropes.
The plane had taken off from Haneda at 10.55 a.m. (local time) and was heading for Hokkaido, northern Japan, before turning around and landing back in Tokyo an hour and 19 minutes later.
The pilot, Capt Naoyuki Nagashima (51), a father of two, was the first fatality in the 20 Japanese hijackings on record. There were no other injuries.
Media reports said the hijacker, who attacked the pilot with a 12 ins knife, was a 28-year-old Tokyo resident who had been treated for depression in the past and had attempted suicide.
The question remained as to how the hijacker managed to get the knife through security checks. Police were unable to confirm reports it was made of ceramic.
The man, who had demanded that the jet fly to a US air force base in Yokota, western Tokyo, is a fan of computerised flight simulation games and wanted to try the real thing, according to local media.
"I wanted to soar through the air," the man reportedly told police, adding that he had wanted to fly under the scenic Rainbow Bridge along Tokyo Bay.
Passengers said the man, wearing soiled white gloves, appeared suddenly and forced a flight attendant to open the locked door to the cockpit.
A doctor on board tried to save Capt Nagashima, who had stab wounds to the neck and wrist.
Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi expressed sadness at the pilot's death and pledged a thorough investigation.
Capt Nagashima's wife learned of her husband's death as she returned from a shopping trip to see dozens of reporters at her doorway. "Has something bad happened?" she asked airline officials who had come to break the news.
Japan's most famous hijacking was in 1970, when members of the radical Red Army hijacked a Japan Airlines jet and were flown to North Korea, where they defected.