There is a bomb squad at the scene. “Police identify woman who attacked pilots on flight,” by Jarrod Booker and Edward Gay for the New Zealand Herald (thanks to Thomas Haidon):
Police have released details of a woman who attacked two pilots on a flight from Blenheim to Christchurch this morning.
The woman, who also made bomb threats, is a 33-year-old Blenheim resident.
Both pilots, who suffered knife wounds, are now in hospital and Police and Transport Minister Annette King has called for an urgent report on the incident.
The woman, who police said was originally from Somalia, made bomb threats claiming there were two bombs on board the plane. […]
Both pilots have been taken to hospital with knife wounds and one had severe cuts to his hands. […]
The army bomb squad is still checking the plane and passenger luggage for any signs of explosives. Police in Blenheim are doing background checks on the woman in her home town.
Mr Cliff said police have found two knives, one on the woman they are speaking to and one on the tarmac.
The other passengers on board – four New Zealanders, one Australian and an Indian – are being spoken to by police.
One witness described the scene as “like something from a Bruce Willis movie”. Andrew Sare said the woman was hauled off the plane by armed police, handcuffed and forced to the ground.
Police issued a statement saying that a Mayday call was received from the plane – an Air National Flight operated by Eagle Air travelling from Blenheim to Christchurch – at around 7.40am.
The call, routed to police from the NZ Rescue Co-ordination centre in Wellington, said a female passenger had attacked the pilots before she was bundled out of the cockpit.
They were reportedly stabbed and the pilots told police they had suffered minor injuries.
According to police, the passenger also claimed she had a bomb on board. […]
A source at Christchurch Airport said the woman has been taken away in an ambulance, possibly suffering dog-bites.
It was earlier thought the incident may have been a hijacking attempt, though no further details were yet available on this.
There are reports that an electronic device was found on board the plane.
The bomb squad is at the scene….