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Small plane hijacked in Germany, threatening to crash
Plane hijacker threatens to crash into European Central Bank building
BREAKING NEWS
MSNBC STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
FRANKFURT, Jan 5 — An armed man stole a small airplane from an airfield in western Germany Sunday, and police said he was threatening to crash it into the European Central Bank building in the city of Frankfurt.
POLICE SAY a helicopter is pursuing the aircraft and is trying to force it away from the city.
Several skyscrapers in the country’s financial capital were evacuated as a precaution, and streets cleared in the city. A helicopter was pursuing the aircraft and trying to force it away from the city, Frankfurt police said.
Gunther Schepky, head of traffic at Frankfurt airport, said there were no flights into or out of the airport and that it was not known when flights could be resumed. The airport is the largest in continental Europe.
“The aircraft is circling round the center of the city,” Schepky said. CNN reported that the plane is a single-engine Cessna with fuel enough for four to five hours.
A spokesman for air traffic control said they saw no terrorist link to the hijacking of the aircraft, while Germany’s NTV television said the man had told them he did not want to kill anybody but himself.
The plane was stolen Sunday afternoon from an airfield at Babenhausen, just to the southeast of Frankfurt, Axel Raab, a spokesman for the German air safety agency.
The man threatened the pilot of the plane with a weapon, then took over the controls and took off, Raab said.
He said the man was seeking contact with CNN.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Forever missing our baby boy. One hour in this world, always in our hearts. April 5, 2005
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