BEIJING, Aug 10 (AFP) - China will deploy its first batch of 1,400 air marshals on passenger flights from the October 1 national day holiday, state media reported on Tuesday.
The marshals will be recruited from existing airline security guards, Xinhua news agency said, citing a plan jointly issued by the General Administration of Civil Aviation and the finance and public security ministries.
Air marshals will "ensure flight security, prevent damage to aircraft and crack down on hijacking, bombing and other crimes," Xinhua said.
China first considered deploying air marshals after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
China Eastern Airlines' branch in Ningbo, eastern Zhejiang province, has already set up a police team and 15-strong team of security guards, it said.
One police officer and one guard will be on each of the airline branch's flights.
Marshals will wear uniform or plain clothes depending on the conditions, Xinhua cited an official with the airline branch saying. Plain-clothed police will sit among passengers.
"One of their major tasks is to prevent suspected travellers from breaking in the flight deck and stop common passengers entering the first-class cabin," the official said.
The marshals can use weapons if the security of the aircraft or passengers is endangered, the news agency said.
According to the plan, China Southern Airlines will have 576 air marshals. Air China will have 399 and China Eastern Airlines 469 from the first batch, it said.
China has seen a number of hijack attempts, most recently last month when a mentally ill man threatened to spray acid over passengers on an Air China plane from Beijing unless he was flown to South Korea.
In February last year a man demanding to be taken to Taiwan started a fire using fuel hidden in a drinks can on an Air China fight from Beijing to southeastern Fuzhou city. He was subdued by onboard security personnel and the plane landed safely with 149 passengers.
Not all in-flight sabotage attempts have had happy endings.
In May 2002, a cancer patient started a fire on a plane in an apparent suicide attempt so his family could cash in on his flight insurance, causing the plane to plunge into the ocean, killing all 103 passengers and nine crew.