Man stabbed in neck during plane seating row

A 22-year-old was arrested at Sydney airport today after he allegedly stabbed a fellow traveller in the neck with a fork during an argument about seating on a flight from Bangkok.

“First aid treatment was given to the injured passenger and the attacker was restrained and put at the rear of the aircraft,” Thai Airways said.

The 50-year-old victim returned to his home in Sydney after being treated for neck injuries at a hospital there.

Australian police said the attack appeared to have followed a dispute about seating, but they could not give any details.

After the September 11 attacks, airlines have stepped up security to stop potentially dangerous items being available on flights. It was not immediately clear what the fork was made of.

The Boeing 747-400 aircraft was carrying 21 crew and 361 passengers.

It was the sixth aviation security incident in Australia in the last seven weeks.

:: On May 29 a would-be hijacker armed with sharp wooden stakes stabbed two flight attendants as he tried to break into the cockpit of a domestic flight.

:: In June a man was arrested after making verbal threats about crashing a domestic flight.

:: A week later, a 68-year-old man was arrested for pulling a pair of box cutters out of his bag after take-off.

:: Two weeks ago, a flight made an unscheduled stop in Darwin to turn over a man to police who had verbally abused a flight attendant.

:: In the past week, two men have been arrested for making verbal threats against passengers and crew. One allegedly claimed he would crash the plane. The other allegedly claimed he had a gun.