A man today tried to set afire a Chinese airliner with more than 100 people on board while the plane was landing in southern China, but was overpowered by flight crew and co-passengers.
The 95 passengers and nine crew members on board Shenzhen Airlines flight ZH9648 from the city of Taizhou to Guangzhou near Hong Kong had a harrowing time as the male passenger tried to set afire a seat and attempted to damage the facilities while the plane was landing at around 1 am today.
He was overpowered by flight crew and other passengers immediately, state-run Xinhua news agency reported without elaborating.
But photos flashed in the Chinese social media showed a partially charred passenger seat and a blackened emergency exit door pointing to fire in the plane.
Two of passengers suffered injuries in the ruckus which led to chaos and panic in the flight, the Xinhua report said, adding that they were sent to hospital.
Chinese officials have released few details of the incident.
Today's incident was the latest in a series of dangerous incidents aboard Chinese flights, including passengers opening emergency exits and fights between passengers and crew members.
The Guangzhou airport authorities initiated emergency response and evacuated the passengers and crew members after the plane landed.
Flight operations at the airport has been resumed. Further investigation is underway, the report said.
Carrying lighters on flights in China is strictly banned in view of attempts by Uygur militants from Xinjiang to hijack or damage the planes.
