In their closing argument before the Tokyo District Court, prosecutors said Yuji Nishizawa, 34, was not insane as his lawyers claimed and therefore able to be held liable for the crime.

Nishizawa stands accused of hijacking the ANA Boeing 747-400 soon after it left Tokyo's Haneda airport for Sapporo on July 23, 1999, and fatally stabbing Capt. Naoyuki Nagashima, 51, because he wanted to fly the aircraft.

Prosecutors said proof of Nishizawa's mental stability could be seen in the careful preparations he made before the hijacking, including checking the weather to make sure he had a clear day, retrieving check-in luggage containing a knife after arriving on an earlier flight from Osaka and, taking advantage of a security loophole allowing passengers to return to gates from the baggage-claim area, bringing the weapon in the bag aboard the Sapporo flight as carry-on luggage.

The Japan Times Weekly: Oct. 9, 2004
(C) All rights reserved