Hijacked plane crashes in NZ harbour

[Denis W. Veteran]

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A man stole a light plane and threatened to crash it into the landmark Sky Tower in New Zealand's largest city, Auckland, before plunging the craft into the sea Saturday night, police said.

An Auckland police spokeswoman described the events, which coincided with national elections, as a "domestic situation," and said rescue workers were at the crash scene.

There was no immediate word on the man's condition. He was believed to be alone in the plane, spokeswoman Phillipa White said.

At 1,076 feet, Sky Tower claims to be the tallest tower in the southern hemisphere. An unknown number of people dining at a restaurant 620 feet up in the tower were evacuated as the drama unfolded.

"It's been cleared but now security says everything is fine," said customer services manager Sarah Williams.

The plane approached the tower after dark and its pilot was in contact with police, local television reported.

TV1 said police took up positions outside Prime Minister Helen Clark's house, but it was not immediately clear if they were there because of the voting or in response to the plane incident.

Source

Oh come on. You'd expect a small ass plane to knock down a tower? The most it'll do is just blast some windows (and some unlucky diners).

What's next? Some idiot will threaten to toss cherry bombs into subway lines. :whistle:

[Mister Lamar]

Just like the young boy in Tampa, FL, what is a little plane like that going to do. This fool, stole a plane and flew it into The Bank of America building. Some people, some days. :laugh:

[Ferret]

I'm no pilot (yet) but I do believe that pilots should be able to carry a gun of some sort !!!