A man claiming he had a bomb took over an America West airliner late Tuesday and demanded to be flown to Cuba, but was arrested soon after the plane made an emergency landing in Austin, police said. No one was seriously injured during Flight 727 from Houston to Las Vegas, with 34 passengers and five crew members aboard, or the arrest at Robert Mueller Municipal Airport, officials said. SWAT team members overpowered the man aboard the plane, officials said. FBI agent Byron Sage identifed the man as Jose Manuel Gonzales-Gonzales, 39, and said he was believed to be from New Orleans. Gonzales-Gonzales was believed to be of Cuban descent. The flight was diverted to Austin and landed shortly before 11:30 p.m. after trouble was reported aboard, America West spokeswoman Kathy Christensen said in Phoenix, where the airline is based. ``The man said he had a bomb and had some electronic device that blinked when he pointed to the front of the aircraft,'' said passenger Herb Atwood of Cold Spring, Texas. ``He grabbed one of the stewardesses and had something around her neck,'' Atwood said in an interview with radio station KVET. ``He was shouting orders. He said he wanted them to fly to Cuba, but the pilot said that we did not have enough fuel.'' The man ordered all the passengers to move to the front of the aircraft, Atwood said. Austin police received a report of a bomb threat at 11:28 p.m., said police spokesman Harold Elmore. After the plane landed, nearly 40 police officers, including hostage negotiators, surrounded the aircraft shortly before midnight. Police Capt. Loyd Polk said he climbed up an escape hatch into the aircraft, then subdued Gonzales-Gonzales. ``I saw he had the stewardess, so I took action immediately,'' Polk said. ``I had a struggle with him, but I was able to hold him to the ground until more help arrived.'' Passengers evacuated the plane, and police began searching the airplane for a bomb. ``We doubt there was a bomb aboard the plane,'' Elmore said. Gonzales-Gonzales was taken to a hospital early Wednesday for treatment of cuts to his head suffered when he was arrested, said city emergency services shift commander Bob Gutierrez. The stewardess who was grabbed was also taken to a hospital for minor cuts and burns when coffee spilled on her, Gutierrez said. Several passengers were treated at the airport for minor injuries suffered when they evacuated the aircraft. Elmore said passengers were taken to an airport terminal for questioning. City aviation director Charles Gates said the passengers would be put up in a hotel for the night and flown out Wednesday morning. Sage said authorities intended to charge the man with air piracy and kidnapping. ``You always hear about this,'' passenger Atwood said, ``and I never thought it would happen to me. I was scared like everyone else. I was looking forward to a trip to Vegas. But my gambling ended before it started.''
