A man apparently intent on crashing a Qantas flight in Australia attacked and injured two attendants on his way to the cockpit before he was overpowered.
The man (40) reportedly attacked the crew with sharp wooden implements, possibly chopsticks, soon after the Boeing 717 with 47 passengers and six crew left the southern city of Melbourne for the island state of Tasmania.
Passengers and crew wrestled the man to the floor before he could reach the cockpit of the 118-seat plane.
The Australian Transport Minister and Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson said it did not appear to be an act of terrorism.
"He apparently headed for the cabin and seemed to be intent upon trying to force a nasty outcome," Mr Anderson told reporters in Canberra. "If you call an attempt to crash an aircraft, you might call that a hijacking," the minister added.
Police said the man had been taken into custody.