Passenger Tries To Hijack Plane Bound For Istanbul And Divert It To Sochi The Venue Of The Russian Winter Olympics!
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| Sochi Stadium, Russia. |
A major security operation was sparked after a passenger on board a plane bound for Turkey attempted to hijack it and demanded that it be diverted to Sochi, where the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics was taking place.
The flight, which had taken off from Kharkov, Ukraine, and was en route for Istanbul with 110 passengers, subsequently landed safely at Sabiha Gokcen airport, one of the Turkish city's international airports.
There was confusion about what happened next, with some reports stating that Turkish special forces boarded the plane and seized the would-be hijacker, while at least one other report stated that attempts were being made to get him to give himself up.
Turkish authorities had earlier scrambled an F-16 fighter plane as soon as the pilot of the Pegasus Airlines flight signalled that there was a hijack attempt.
Russia's Interfax news agency cited the Ukrainian security service as saying the passenger who tried to hijack the plane was in a state of severe alcoholic intoxication. It also said he had been pacified, and no weapons or explosives were found on him.
An airport official was quoted by Reuters as saying: "People are still inside but the pilot called security and gave them a signal that they can enter the plane. There is a translator - a Turkish man near the Ukrainian to calm him down."
Habib Soluk, Turkey's transport ministry undersecretary, told a Turkish television channel that the man rose from his seat, shouted that there was a bomb on board and tried to enter the locked cockpit. The pilot signalled that there was a hijack attempt and the airport was placed on high alert.
"The man was made to believe the plane was heading to Sochi," he said. "We are hoping that the passengers are evacuated without even a nose-bleed."
http://www.theguardian.com/
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