|
"I wanted to soar through the air"
reportedly said to police following his arrest.
It would seem
that this story is one that was designed for my site. I mean
there's nothing I like more than to laugh at a real
dickhead, and a what dickhead was Nishizawa.
Yuji was a 28-year-old unemployed man. He had been treated
for depression in the past and had attempted suicide. He was
also a real big fan of computer flight simulation games, so
much so that it was his goal in life to fly a real plane. He
seemed to think all his hours of sitting in front of a
computer made him an expert on flying planes.
So what did Yuji do?
On July 23, 1999 he boarded a All Nippon Airways Boeing 747,
flying from Tokyo to the northern city of Sapporo, with the
intent of achieving his goal, no matter what he had to do to
do so.
Two minutes after takeoff Yuji Nishizawa pulled out an
8-inch knife and pressed it to a flight attendant's back. He
then forced her to take him into the cockpit.
"If you don't want to die, open the cockpit''
Once inside the cockpit Nishizawa forced the co-pilot out
and ordered the pilot to steer toward the U.S. military's
Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo. When the pilot refused
Yuji stabbed him in the neck, seized the controls and tried
to steer them himself. He was fulfilling his dream, although
I doubt there was someone bleeding to death in the next seat
in Yuji fantasies.
Well it seems that flying wasn't as easy as Yuji thought,
and after a sudden drop in altitude, the co-pilot and
another man burst into the cockpit and pounced on the him,
tying him up with neckties.
The pilot, Naoyuki Nagashima, 51, was pronounced dead by a
doctor on board. According to news sources, Nagashima
suffered stab wounds in the neck and shoulder and he bled to
death. It was the first death of a passenger or crew member
in Japan's 20 airplane hijackings since 1970.
After the plane arrived back in Tokyo an hour later the some
of the 517 passengers spoke to the press. Most accounts
described Yuji as having 'crazy' hair and dirty white gloves
on his hands. I wonder if they were his flying gloves. Other
passengers said there were signs that the hijacker was
troubled before he pulled out his knife. Yoshiko Kawase, 60,
said she noticed the man while he was still in his seat
because he appeared nervous and was wearing gloves.
When Yuji finally had a chance to speak we found out that
all he wanted to do was to fly under Tokyo's Rainbow Bridge.
UPDATE
Yuji Nishizawa pled guilty to most crimes just before
Christmas, 1999. Also during the court hearing he said that
"there is nothing wrong" with the hijacking and murder
charges against him.
Nishizawa also shouted out during the hearing that he did
not care if he were sentenced to death for the crime.
|
