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Hostage situation on Lufthansa

April 1, 2014

A Lufthansa flight made an emergency return to Munich airport on Tuesday after a man armed with a razor blade took a flight attendant hostage. Police apprehended the man peacefully.

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Lufthansa Airbus A340
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

The 28-year-old Kosovo man had boarded the flight to Budapest, after being deported from Germany due to the rejection of an asylum request. A police spokesman said the man threatened a female flight attendant with a broken razor blade shortly after takeoff.

German newspaper Bild online says the man barricaded himself in a toilet with the flight attendant after other crew rushed to help. The pilot then turned around and landed back in Munich.

The 76 other people on the plane were able to disembark, leaving police to negotiate with the man, still on board with the flight attendant. Police say the Kosovo passenger, who spoke Albanian, surrendered with the help of an interpreter.

Three flight attendants suffered injuries in the confrontation. It is unclear how the man managed to bring the razor blade on board.

jr/rc (Reuters, dpa)