An Ukrainian passenger, who is suspected of making a bomb threat and trying to hijack a plane, demanding to go to the Winter Olympics venue of Sochi, is now in custody in Turkey.
Turkey scrambled an F-16 fighter jet to accompany the Pegasus Airlines plane as it landed at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport after a flight from the Ukrainian city of Kharkov.
Security officials are searching the plane, which had 110 passengers aboard.
A Ukrainian man sitting in seat 2F said he had a bomb on him and demanded that the flight be diverted to Sochi, Hasip Soluk Habertük, the Turkish Undersecretary of Transportation told reporters.
The crew told him: “Yes, we are directing the flight to Sochi,” according to the transportation official. But then the pilots turned off the in-flight monitors and flew to Istanbul.
Once plane entered Turkish airspace, the plane was escorted by two Turkish F-16s.
The plane is in a secure area at Istanbul’s airport. Passengers and crew are still inside plane.
Meanwhile, Sochi Winter Olympics kicked off with a spectacular opening ceremony.
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