December 01, 2008

Woman passenger tried to intervene during hijack

Aircraft hijacking depositions, Day 1. Updated report by Anne Clarkson

A woman passenger got a slight knife wound in the hand when she tried to speak to Asha Ali Abdille during an alleged aircraft hijacking over the South Island, the Christchurch District Court was told.

The woman, who has name suppression, was distracted by another passenger as she approached the front of the Air New Zealand National Jetstream aircraft flying south from Blenheim on February 8.

?I approached her to calm her down and distract her from the pilots,? she said. Instead, she spoke to the other passenger who was very upset and frightened. ?I said it would be all right, don?t worry.?

When she turned to face Abdille, she got yelled at and told to go back to her seat. Then she felt a slight pain and realised Abdille had a knife. ?I got hit by the knife. I held it (the wound on her hand), applied pressure and hid it from the other passengers.?

She said Abdille wanted the upset passenger to move into a seat beside her, but a male passenger told her not to move. The witness said Abdille then said to the upset woman: ?Do you want to die? Do you want to go to Heaven? I don?t want to hurt you. I can see you?re upset. I know how you feel. I?ve felt like that for some time now.?

The witness said she had a minor nick between the forefinger and the thumb. It did not need stitches.

The witness said Abdille was standing up for most of the flight and she noticed her erratic mood swings. Abdille said she did not want to harm them, but also said they were all going to die.

Asked if she was concerned for her safety, the woman said: ?Totally. I believed the plane was going to crash. I thought she was going to attack the pilots and the plane would crash. I expected someone would be injured, and possibly fatally injured.?

Abdille?s depositions hearing in the Christchurch District Court is set to finish on Tuesday morning before John O?Hara and Bruce Dawson, Justices of the Peace. Late on Monday afternoon, the court was hearing evidence from police witnesses.

The 34-year-old Somali woman faces a charge of hijacking, taking an offensive weapon onto an aircraft, and four charges of wounding or injuring with reckless disregard for safety. She is represented by Antony Shaw and Greg Gimblett.