THE US: An apparently drunken, unarmed Uruguayan passenger tried to force himself into the locked cockpit a United Airlines flight from Miami to Argentina yesterday before pilots hit him with an axe and tied him up.
In a separate incident, a part of Baltimore Washington International Airport was evacuated for more than an hour yesterday due to an alleged security breach.
The 28-year-old Urguayan kicked down one panel of the cockpit door demanding to see the captain and got part of his body in before being overpowered by the crew and passengers.
The man, identified as Mr Pablo Moreira, was arrested when the Boeing 777 carrying 142 passengers and 15 crew landed safely in Buenos Aires.
Cockpit doors on big US jetliners have been reinforced with metal bars since the September 11th attacks.
A passenger said afterwards: "He had actually inserted himself . . . his torso into the cockpit." But the pilots inside "used an axe that they have in the cockpit to basically hit him bluntly on the head. This led to a lot of blood".
United Airlines' chairman, Mr Jack Creighton, commended the crew for quick action and said Mr Moreira "never gained full entry due to the reinforced cockpit door bar United has installed on all of its fleet".
Meanwhile, at Baltimore Washington International Airport, Ms Melanie Miller said the airport's Pier B was evacuated at 11:40 a.m. after an incident at a security checkpoint.
A security screener noticed a suspicious item in a carry-on bag and the passenger disappeared into the Pier B concourse. The concourse was evacuated and examined by security officials with dogs. The pier was reopened at 1:16 p.m.