Nine Shenzhen Airline crew members were awarded with 2.5 million yuan by the airliner after they managed to thwart a passenger’s attempt to set fire to a plane last month.
Two passengers onboard flight ZH9648 were also given 150,000 yuan yesterday for helping crew members to stop the arsonist… twice.
The suspect, Zhai Jinshun, managed to bring gas and a lighter onto the plane on July 26 and attempted to light the cabin on fire two different times as the aircraft was preparing to land.
Zhai first ignited some newspapers, which were quickly extinguished by crew members. He then took out a knife and walked to the economy class, but was blocked by stewards and passengers. That was when he dashed towards the first-class section and tried to start another fire.
While the arson attack might not have gone as swimmingly as he’d hoped, he did manage to cause some damage to the seats.
All passengers and crew members evacuated safely from the plane, While Zhai climbed onto the wing and jumped off after landing. He was pronounced brain dead at the hospital.
The motives behind his attack are unknown.
[Images via myzaker.com]