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An escaped prisoner hijacked a busload of tourists at Auckland Airport yesterday, pulling the driver from her seat and telling frightened passengers he had a gun.
The man - who escaped during a transfer from Mt Eden Prison to Wanganui Prison - ordered shocked and shaking passengers out of the bus.
Then, in a scene akin to a Hollywood blockbuster, he drove around the corner, jumped from the moving bus and ran away as the driverless vehicle ploughed into a car carrying an Auckland couple and the British relatives they were dropping at the airport.
The man was captured by police a block away, apparently as he tried to scale a fence, after about 20 minutes on the run.
He is to appear in court today on charges of kidnapping, robbery and escaping custody.
Neither the prisoner's identity nor details of why he was in custody were made public.
The Department of Corrections said full details of the escape were not yet available, but it would be "fully investigated".
The man was one of seven prisoners being transferred when he he fled about 2pm.
He tried to commandeer a taxi before taking control of the bus.
Taxi driver Chenchel Sing told Newstalk ZB he was going back to his cab when the man tried to take another cab in the rank.
Mr Sing said he stopped him from starting the car but the prisoner lunged at him and tried to hit him in the face.
The prisoner then stopped and boarded the Airbus Express bus, which was on its way from the domestic terminal to the city.
He got on and pulled the driver from her seat.
Witnesses said the bus lurched forward at the traffic lights and the 20 or so passengers tumbled out.
"I saw a woman begging ... She had a wedding to go to and was begging him to throw out her suitcase," said student nurse Catherine Furness, 19.
"She told me she thought she was going to die. She told me he said he had a gun."
Another said: "We saw an old boy trying to get off the bus and people were helping him try to get off - people were just panicking. They looked like they wanted to get away from that bus pretty quick."
Sue Sullivan, general manager of EX Group, which manages Airbus Express, said the driver was "traumatised" but none of the passengers were injured.
Police Inspector Richard Middleton denied it was a hijacking.
"It wasn't a hijacking - he did get on the bus and started driving it," he said. "It's still sketchy."
National Party corrections spokesman Simon Power, who last year criticised the Government for its $1 million annual spending on transporting criminals, said the hijacking was another example of Department of Corrections incompetence.
"What's clear is that safety cannot be guaranteed. "
- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: NZPA
