Gunman flies stolen plane over Frankfurt

An armed man stole a small plane from an airfield in western Germany today, and police said he was threatening to crash it in the city of Frankfurt.

The main railway station and several skyscrapers in the country’s financial capital were evacuated as a precaution, and streets cleared in the downtown area of the city. A helicopter was pursuing the aircraft and trying to force it away from the city, Frankfurt police said.

The plane was stolen earlier from an airfield at Babenhausen, just to the southeast of Frankfurt, Axel Raab, a spokesman for the German air safety agency.

The man threatened the pilot of the plane with a weapon, then took over the controls and took off, Raab said.

Frankfurt airport, continental Europe’s largest, was running normally, although authorities were considering restricting traffic. He said the man was seeking contact with the US news channel CNN.