All Nippon Airways filed a damages suit Thursday against a man accused of hijacking an ANA jumbo jet in 1999 and fatally stabbing the captain, and against the man's parents.
The Tokyo-based airline is seeking some 190 million yen in damages from Yuji Nishizawa, 31, who is on trial for hijacking and the murder of Naoyuki Nagashima, the 51-year-old captain of the Boeing 747 flying from Tokyo's Haneda airport to Sapporo on July 23, 1999.
Nishizawa is accused of pulling a kitchen knife, breaking into the cockpit and demanding that he be allowed to operate the aircraft. He also ordered the copilot out of the cockpit.
When the pilot rejected his demand, Nishizawa stabbed him and briefly seized the controls before being overpowered by crew members, according to prosecutors.
None of the 503 passengers or the 13 other crew members was hurt and the plane returned safely to Haneda airport. Earlier reports said Nishizawa, who had been inspired by flight simulator computer games he had played while living at home with his parents, had wanted to fly the jetliner under Tokyo's Rainbow Bridge.
ANA said the amount of damages it is seeking covers repair costs for the cockpit door, which was broken when the crew attempted to seize Nishizawa, as well as the cost of putting the passengers on other flights after the aircraft was returned to Haneda.
Nishizawa's defense counsel entered a guilty plea in the first session of the criminal trial in December 1999 before the Tokyo District Court.