Man with axe tried to crash passenger plane
 A 34 year old Algerian asylum seeker attacked the two pilots on a small passenger plane in northern Norway today, trying to crash the plane.
The attacker first hit one pilot in the head, and attempted to grab the controls while he yelled he intended to crash the plane. The plane started diving towars the ground, as the man armed with an axe fought the two pilots. The pilots yelled for help, and two passengers immediately rushed to the cockpit and succeeded in dragging the man out of the cookpit. The pilots, both with blood running from their heads after being injured by the attacker, fought to control the plane. Only 100 feet - 30 meters - above ground did they manage to turn the plane up and landed the plane at Bodø (Bodoe) airport as the passengers held the attacker down on the floor in the cabin.
When the plane landed, police borded the plane and took the man away. Witnesses say he was tied and covered with blood. The two pilots and one passenger, all with bleeding wounds, were taken to hospital. None of them are in a critical condition.
There were a total of seven passengers and two pilots on Dornier 228 plane operated by small airliner Kato Air. There were no security door, in fact no door at all, between the cockpit and the passengers.
A preliminary investigation reveals that the man had boarded the plane with an axe and also two knives in his hand luggage. There was no security check on the small airport in Narvik where the small plane departed. None of Norway's 29 short runway airports have any security check of passengers or their luggage. The Narvik airport was scheduled to have security equipment and controls installed January 1, 2005.
The Algerian asylum seeker had his application finally rejected in May this year, and lost his place at the local asylum center after he had missed a deadline to leave the country. There is so far no certain information on whether he has a history of mental problems.
The question on everybody's mind, but one not touched by the media so far, is whether the man was a muslim, and whether the incident may have been inspired by Islamist terrorist attacks. It is a quite reasonable assumption that the Algerian man was not a Lutheran, but beyond that it is too early to tell.
Norway's ridiculous airport security has been shockingly revealed to be inadequate. Heroic acts from the two pilots and a few quick thinking passengers avoided a tragic accident today.
Update: I heard on the news, but have not seen it confirmed, one passenger say that she had seen the Algerian man talking on his mobile in-flight shortly before he attack the pilots.
Update 2: The attacker was committed to a mental institution shortly after capture, having said he has no memory of the incident. Well, I'd try that trick too in Norway, but I assume (hope?) the psychiatrists aren't totally naive.
Update 3: The attacker is being described as a very devout Muslim, who wanted to become an Imam and open a Mosque in the town of Narvik. Other asylum seekers say he was sometimes aggressive, a loner, and mentally unstable, but he is also spoken about in quite positive terms.
Update 4: Dagbladet has pictures of the cockpit after the attack. Head wounds sure bleed a lot.
6:22:01 PM 
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