Six hijackers tried to take control of a plane flying from Hotan to Urumqi City in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The attempt failed after passengers and crew realized what was happening and fought back. A number of people were injured in the ensuing scuffle.

Passengers aboard Tianjin Airlines' Flight GS7554 must have breathed an especially big sigh of relief after their plane finally touched down safely on June 29.

Just ten minutes after the plane took-off, 6 passengers attempted to wrestle control of the plane.

Liu Huijun, the deputy director of Xinjiang Autonomous Region Food Bureau, was one of the first to figure out what the commotion was about.

Liu said, "My first instinct was that they were hijacking the plane, because three of them were holding tools and shouting. I unfastened my seat belt and saw that they had lit something on fire. My thinking was that they were trying to bomb the plane. That would have been terrible, so I got up to fight them without even thinking about it."

As three hijackers were trying to break into the cockpit using a broken aluminium crutch, the others attacked passengers and crew with metal tools.

Hotan airport surveillance tapes show one of the men faking a disability to pass through security, armed with a caged metal stick. The aluminium pipe they used as a weapon was hidden inside a crutch.

Fortunately, there were four policemen on board who joined with other passengers to fend off the attack.

Fu Huacheng, deputy director of Xinjiang Luopu Education Bureau, said, "I rallied us to fight them as one. Then all the people in the cabin joined in, shouting. People from different ethnic groups united to restrain the hijackers."

Ten minutes later, and the hijackers had all been restrained. Now arrested, police said their identities been confirmed and the case is under investigation.

Musha, a hijacking suspect, said, "I took part in the hijacking attempt together with five others. Our aim was to fly the plane out of the country for a holy war."

It's clear that without the united front against the would-be terrorists, the flight would have ended in disaster. The Xinjiang regional government has commended 10 people, including crew members and police officers, for their bravery and efforts to subdue the men.

(Xinhua News Agency July 4, 2012)