The incident occurred on the flight CA1505 on its way from Beijing to Fuzhou, capital city of east China's Fujian province, according to a source with the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC).

The highjacker, the source noted, was subdued and the crew and all passengers on board landed safely in Fuzhou airport.

The suspect named Dong Yue, a 39-year-old jobless man with a senior middle school education background from Jinzhou city in northeastern Liaoning province, has been detained.

The CAAC source added that Dong took out an ordinary beverage can all of a sudden and spilled fuel stored in it onto the cabin aisle and then claimed to hijack the plane to Taiwan. Dong was soon subdued by security staff aboard.

The case is under investigation, the source said.

(Xinhua News Agency February 2, 2003)