A man accused of commandeering a jetliner in northern Japan with 364 people aboard was ordered Monday to pay $430,000 in damages to the airline.
Fumio Kutsumi, 54, who police say terrorized those aboard the All Nippon Airways flight, will be tried later for the June 1995 hijacking.The plane sat on the tarmac on the main island of Hokkaido for nearly 16 hours before riot police moved in and arrested Kutsumi, who was armed with a sharpened screwdriver. There were no serious injuries.
In today's ruling in the civil lawsuit filed by the airline in August, the Tokyo District Court upheld the airline's claim that it sustained damages by having to reimburse passengers, cancel flights and send in extra staff to Hokkaido.
"Since this is a hijacking, it's not a matter of winning or losing," said airline spokesman Hirotaka Nagahata.