JAKARTA: A drunk passenger triggered a hijack scare yesterday when he tried to break into the cockpit of a plane flying from Brisbane to the Indonesian holiday island of Bali, transport officials said.
A Virgin Australia Airlines official said there had not been an attempt to hijack the aircraft but a “flight emergency” when a 28-year-old male passenger banged on the door of the cockpit trying to get in an hour before it was due to land.
“He was trying to enter the cockpit, banging the door but he did not enter the cockpit,” Heru Sudjatmiko, airport manager for Virgin Australia in Bali, told Indonesia’s Metro TV.
Crew members seized the passenger, who authorities identified as Matt Christopher Lockley from Australia, and handcuffed him.
China bans rare species for food
BEIJING: China will jail people who eat rare animals for 10 years or more under a new interpretation of the criminal law, state media reported, as the government seeks to close a legal loophole and better protect the natural environment.
China lists 420 species as rare or endangered, including the panda, golden monkeys, Asian black bears and pangolins, some or all of which are threatened by illegal hunting, environmental destruction and the consumption of animal parts, including for supposedly medicinal reasons.
Consumption of rare animals has risen as the country has become richer, with some people believing spending thousands of yuan on eating them gives a certain social cache.
“Eating rare animals is not only bad social conduct but also a main reason why illegal hunting has not been stopped” Lang Sheng, deputy head of parliament’s Legislative Affairs Commission said, the official Xinhua news agency reported late on Thursday.
Agencies
