Turkey foils hijacking attempt on Sochi-bound plane

Turkish media reported that on February 7, a Ukrainian man attempted to hijack a passenger plane en route from Ukraine to Türkiye and fly the plane to Sochi (Russia), where the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics are taking place.

The plane was forced to land in Istanbul (Source: Al Jazerra)

The suspect attempted to enter the cockpit of the plane carrying explosives. The pilot raised the alarm and a Turkish F-16 fighter jet took off in an emergency, forcing the plane carrying about 110 passengers to land in Istanbul.

Turkish armed police and counter-terrorism commandos checked all passengers on the plane for explosives.

In a statement, the Turkish Civil Aviation Authority said: "A Pegasus Airlines plane taking off from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv to Sabiha Gokcen landed safely at Sabiha Gokcen airport after receiving a bomb threat during the flight"./.

According to VNA