Turkish Airlines plane lands in St. Petersburg after hijack attempt fails
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A Turkish Airlines plane has landed in St. Petersburg after a passenger sent a note to the pilot saying he has bomb and is hijaking the plane, the CEO of the company said on Wednesday. The hijacker was detained by Russian police. (UPDATED)
"The passenger sent a note to the captain which read 'take me inside (the flight cabin) or I will explode the bomb I have," the CEO of Turkish Airlines, Temel Kotil, told at a press conference. The pilot refused to open the door and the assailant was overpowered by passengers, he said. No bomb or weapon was found on him.
"We learned that the passenger was drunk", Kotil told broadcaster NTV.Â
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The man who tried to hijack a Turkish Airlines flight en route to Russia was arrested Wednesday after the plane arrived in Saint Petersburg, Interfax news agency reported, quoting an airport official. Â "The hooligan landed with everyone else. He has been taken off the plane and handed over to police," the unnamed official from Saint Petersburgs Pulkovo Airport was quoted by Interfax as saying.Â
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The hijacker has been identified as Yasa Rashidov, an
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Earlier media reports said the plane, which took off from
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Turkish Ministry of Transportation Deputy Undersecretary Suat Haydi Aka told the state-run Anatolian Agency that passengers were evacuated after the plane landed at St. Petersburg Airport.Â
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The plane has 164 passengers and seven crew on board, Turkish Airlines said in a statement. No Turkish passengers were aboard the flight, the Anatolian Agency reported.