Amman Security Foils Hijacking Attempt

A M M A N, July 5 -- Jordanian security forces foiled a hijacking attempt tonight, killing aSyrian hijacker and capturing two others in an airborne shootout, government officialssaid.

The plane, Royal Jordanian Flight 435 from Amman to Damascus, took off from Amman's Queen Alia International Airport before the confrontation started, said Capt. Jihad Arsheid, the head of Jordan’s civil aviation authority.

About 10 minutes after the flight took off, one of the hijackers detonated a bomb inside the Airbus A320 plane, wounding 15 passengers, Arsheid said.

But the pilot managed to turn around and land safely in Amman, he said.

Shaken Passengers

A family of Americans — a couple and their two children — was on board. They were too shaken to speak with ABCNEWS shortly after the plane landed, saying only, “We are safe and sound.”

The wounded passengers have been taken to a hospital near the airport.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II, after rushing to the airport and inspecting the plane, drove to the hospital to visit them.

The two surviving hijackers are being interrogated, a Jordanian official said, adding that Syrian identification papers were found on all three hijackers.

ABCNEWS’ Mohammad Ajlouni in Amman and Reuters contributed to this report.