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Hijacking of Turkish Aircraft to Sochi Is Foiled Deception Foils Attempt to Hijack Turkish Jet to Sochi
(about 7 hours later)
ISTANBUL — A passenger aboard a commercial airline flight from Ukraine to Turkey tried to hijack it to Sochi, Russia, on Friday after the Winter Olympics had started, but the plane landed safely in Istanbul and the hijacker — apparently deluded by the crew into thinking he was in Sochi — was taken into custody, Turkish news reports said. ISTANBUL — A passenger aboard a commercial airline flight from Ukraine to Turkey tried to hijack it to Sochi, Russia, on Friday after the Winter Olympics started. He threatened to set off a bomb with a cellphone if his demands were not met, but the crew fooled him — and the other passengers — into thinking the plane had landed in Sochi when it was actually in Istanbul, passengers and the authorities said.
The hijacker, identified as a male Ukrainian citizen, claimed to be armed with a bomb, the Turkish television stations NTV and CNNTurk quoted a Transport Ministry under secretary, Habib Soluk, as saying. The man, a 45-year-old Ukrainian, was seized by special security forces as the Turkish aircraft, a Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737-800 with 110 passengers, was being evacuated at Sabiha Gokcen Airport, according to Huseyin Avni Mutlu, the governor of Istanbul.
The television stations said said the crew of the plane, a Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737-800 with 110 passengers aboard, had fooled the hijacker into believing the aircraft was landing in Sochi instead of Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, where members of the special security forces entered the aircraft and detained him. The government scrambled two F-16 warplanes, which escorted the jetliner as it landed, reflecting the heightened fears of terrorism as the Sochi Olympics got underway.
Mr. Soluk was quoted as saying the pilots had darkened the passenger cabin lights and the “hijacker was deluded into believing that the plane was heading at Sochi.” A passenger, Mehmet Tutar, said the pilot even announced that they had arrived in Sochi. “I didn’t even see him,” said Mr. Tutar, who was seated in the back of the plane, referring to the hijacker. “I just heard something. I thought it was a drunk guy.”
It was not immediately clear whether a bomb or other explosive was aboard the plane. But the Kiev Post, a Ukrainian newspaper, reported on its website that the passenger had been “drunk and carried no dangerous items,” attributing the information to the Security Service of Ukraine. Passengers’ relatives and friends who went to Sabiha Gokcen, on the Asian side of Istanbul, described tense cellphone conversations with those on the plane.
Turkish news reports said he was taken to the Istanbul Security Headquarters, as television footage showed the plane parked with fire brigades and ambulances surrounding it. “We came here early to pick up my father’s wife,” Firat Altan, 19, said. “She was very anxious when I talked to her on the phone, and said the hijacker could not be persuaded by the crew and yelled that he had a bomb on board. I heard some passengers crying in the background.”
Turkey’s Transport, Maritime and Communications Ministry, in a statement quoted by the semiofficial Anadolu News Agency, said the aircraft landed safely “under all necessary measures.” Mufit Goren, who was waiting for two female friends on board, said they told him that “the hijacker constantly threatened to detonate a bomb with his mobile if anyone neared him, and said he wanted to go to Sochi. He could freely walk along the aisles even when Turkish channels reported that he was taken under control by the security forces.”
The Russian authorities have imposed intense security on the Winter Olympics because of the threat of terrorist attacks on the games, which began on Thursday and last through Feb. 23. Passengers were reachable on their telephones for nearly four hours until the security units entered the aircraft. Traffic to and from the airport was halted until the authorities announced that the plane had been secured and the Ukrainian passenger was in custody.
Turkish news organizations reported that the man made his threats soon after the flight left Kharkov in Ukraine. The pilot then alerted the authorities in Turkey.
“In the beginning he was thinking that he was going to Sochi,” Mr. Mutlu said. “Of course, sometime later, he realized that he was in Istanbul, in Turkey. It would not have been good to tell him right away.”
The hijacker agreed to the evacuation of children, women and older passengers, and once the evacuation started, other passengers were also helped out of the plane, leaving the hijacker alone with the crew, the governor said. The security forces then entered the aircraft and subdued the hijacker “in a swift, quick and effective manner.”
Mr. Mutlu said the hijacker, who was not immediately identified, had a suitcase with electronic equipment but no bomb. He was not drunk but might have taken some sort of medication to remain alert, Mr. Mutlu added.
The hijacker’s possible organizational links and motives were yet to be investigated, Mr. Mutlu said, telling reporters that the man had refused to cooperate with the authorities.
Turkish news reports said the man was taken to the Istanbul Police Headquarters, as television footage showed the plane parked with fire brigades and ambulances surrounding it. Habib Soluk, a Transportation Ministry official, was quoted on Turkish television saying the pilots had darkened the cabin lights to reinforce their claim that the plane was in Sochi.
As it happened, the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was in Sochi to attend the opening ceremony of the Games.