AP

Wellington, Feb 8: A knife-wielding woman stabbed the two pilots of a small commuter plane in New Zealand and threatened to blow it up in an apparent hijack attempt today, the police said.

The Jetstream aircraft operated by Eagle Air, an affiliate of national carrier Air New Zealand, carrying seven passengers, including an Indian, from the regional city of Blenheim to Christchurch on South Island, landed safely and a 33-year-old woman was arrested, police spokesman Inspector Kieren Kortegast.

Christchurch police commander Dave Cliff said one of the two pilots on board the plane suffered a cut hand, and the other an injured foot. He said the woman, who was living in Blenheim but was originally from Somalia, entered the cockpit and attacked the pilots before being restrained.

She had said there was a bomb on board, Cliff said. An army bomb disposal team conducted an initial search of the plane and found no explosives.

The passengers included four New Zealanders, an Australian and an Indian national.

One passenger suffered a minor hand injury when the plane was evacuated on landing, shortly after 8:00 am (0030 IST). Emergency vehicles surrounded the aircraft on the tarmac and the airport was closed to incoming and outgoing flights. The airport was reopened after about three hours.

Air New Zealand general manager of short haul airlines, Bruce Parton, said the airline was reviewing its security procedures. "Today's incident, although a one-off, has naturally given us cause to conduct a thorough review of our safety and security systems and processes on regional domestic flights," Parton said.