/ 17 June 2006

Man threatens SAA crew member with syringe

A 21-year-old man was arrested on Saturday morning after he allegedly threatened a South African Airways (SAA) crew member with a syringe shortly after a plane took-off from the Cape Town International airport.

Cape Town resident Yunus Ismail was sitting in his business class seat when he saw the man walking towards the cockpit with an air hostess.

”He shouted, ‘If you don’t open the door I’ll kill her,”’ Ismail told the Mail & Guardian Online on Saturday night.

”Three of us jump up … we got such a fright … and then they cuffed him,” he said.

No further details were available on Saturday night. The plane returned to Cape Town where the man was taken into police custody.

Ismail complained that the passengers were then kept waiting on the tarmac for about an hour after landing without any explanation from the SAA or the police.

Police spokesperson Inspector Bernadine Steyn said charges against the man would be ”formulated in due course”.

She could not give any more information on the matter, saying that it was still under ”preliminary investigation”.

The flight, SA 322 from Cape Town to Johannesburg, had taken off from the airport at 10.30am. It was due to arrive in Johannesburg at 11.40am. – Sapa