(Newser)
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Flight staff and passengers tackled and subdued a would-be hijacker yesterday after he held a small knife to the throat of a flight attendant and ordered an Alitalia flight from Paris to fly to Tripoli. The plane and all 131 passengers landed safely in Rome. The attacker was identified as a 48-year-old citizen of Kazakhstan who works in Paris. He was immediately arrested. "The man grabbed the stewardess from behind her back and pointed the knife. She was in difficulty and tried to turn around," said a passenger.
Another witness said the man laughed when the woman asked him to go the front of the plane with her. "He held her for just a few minutes and then the other flight attendants intervened and passengers helped hold the man to the floor," she said. The flight attendant was taken to an airport first aid station for treatment of minor injuries, reports Reuters. The knife used was likely some kind of nail clippers or file, according to CNN.
