Are jet aircraft still at risk of hijacking by people wielding melee weapons (as opposed to explosives)?
I thought that aircraft were designed post-9/11 such that passengers can't enter the cockpit, but Wikipedia's list of hijackings mentions incidents this decade which involved melee weapons:
China June 29, 2012: an attempt was made to hijack Tianjin Airlines Flight GS7554 from Hotan to Ürümqi. Six people tried to hijack the aircraft 10 minutes after take-off. There were 6 police officers on board. Four were in plain clothes, taking the plane for a business trip. The hijackers used aluminium canes with sharpened tips to attack the members of the crew. The police officers and civilians on board subdued the hijackers, all of whom were of Uyghur ethnicity. The plot was foiled and the plane returned to Hotan in 22 minutes after takeoff.
attack the members of the crew
as a violence against the flight attendants, in the cabin. The latter type of threats cannot be prevented, as so many objects can be used against a person in the cabin (a belt can be used to strangle someone) $\endgroup$ – mins Jul 9 '16 at 13:12