Alleged plane hijacker arrested in S. Africa

South African police arrested a man after he allegedly threatened to detonate a bomb on a Johannesburg-bound Air Botswana flight on Monday evening.

The man apparently banged on the cockpit door, demanded that it be opened and threatened to bomb the plane, the SAPA news agency reported.

He was arrested after the flight touched down at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg shortly after 6 p.m. (1600 GMT).

The landing area was secured while the plane, with about 20 people on board, was still in the air.

After it landed, the man, on seeing that police had surrounded the plane, asked for an officer to come on board. The officer then overpowered and arrested the alleged hijacker, the SAPA said.

"Our investigation has shown there was no real threat. No bomb was found, but the passengers were highly traumatized and had to be debriefed," said police spokesman Vish Naidoo.

The man would face charges of attempted hijacking and unlawful interference with a plane and its crew, Naidoo said.

The police would not divulge any of the man's personal details, including his nationality.