KEY POINTS:
Prime Minister Helen Clark says the Government will carefully assess whether the risk of attacks on regional flights is high enough to warrant the expense of wider passenger screening.
Miss Clark today said security at regional airports would be reviewed in light of the alleged attempted hijacking of
an Air National flight on Friday.
Asha Ali Abdille, from Blenheim, was charged with attempted hijacking, wounding, and injuring with intent to injure after she allegedly pulled out a knife on a flight between Blenheim and Christchurch and demanded to be taken to Australia.
A scuffle developed during which the pilot and co-pilot and a passenger were injured. The flight landed safely in Christchurch.
Passengers and their luggage in aircraft containing fewer than 90 seats are not screened.
Smaller airports also had no facilities for screening passengers.
Miss Clark said Friday's incident was horrific, but it was important not to leap to the conclusion that security at regional airports had to be increased.
The attack was the first of its kind. New Zealand's security standards were the same as Australia's and similar incidents could easily happen on buses or trains.
"It would certainly require a major investment at regional airports and it would be ongoing because if you are going to screen every person on every flight that's going to mean for perhaps the one flight that normally goes into Westport every day that you have to have the x-ray machine and the staff.
"Similarly for other smaller airports it does become very very expensive," she said on Newstalk ZB.
"In the end in society we often depend on each other to be safe whether we are walking down the street, or in our homes or on a plane."
Miss Clark praised the pilots' bravery and professionalism in bringing the flight safely to the ground.
She said the incident should not reflect poorly on the local Somalian community and questioned whether Abdille had received adequate services to help her settle properly in New Zealand when she arrived in 1994.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) yesterday issued a formal security warning to airlines and airports in the wake of the attack and a second security breach at the weekend.
The authority said it was a reminder for the continuing need for security vigilance by all those involved in the aviation industry.
The second incident was a reporter sneaking an imitation pistol onto a flight into Hawke's Bay the next day.
CAA media liaison Bill Sommer said the authority wanted all aviation staff to be on the lookout for people behaving suspiciously and trying to create distractions.
- NZPA
