Turkish police thwart hijack attempt

Thu Jan 6, 2011

An attempt to hijack a Turkish Airlines flight has been thwarted after security forces stormed the plane and arrested the hijacker.

The Boeing 737 was about to land at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport en route from Oslo on Wednesday when a passenger threatened to detonate a bomb if the plane did not return to Oslo, dpa reported.

A passenger identified as Salim Tahar, who lives in Oslo, said the man stood up in the rear of the cabin, put on a mask and threatened to blow up the plane.

When the aircraft landed, the crew moved the passengers to the front of the plane while some attendants prevented the hijacker from entering the cockpit.

The Turkish police immediately stormed the plane and arrested the man, whose identity was not immediately known.

None of the 60 passengers onboard the plane was harmed in the incident.

Ataturk airport reported that no explosives were found on the aircraft. The passenger was drunk and was subdued by other passengers till the police arrived, it said.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158848.html.