Sochi: attempted hijack of Pegasus Airlines flight

[Blind Squirrel]

Initial reports say that a passenger claimed he'd a bomb; apparently he wanted the aircraft to go to the site of the Winter Olympics. Aircraft on the ground at IST; being searched for explosives.


Hijack attempt on Ukraine to Turkey plane - Europe - Al Jazeera English (http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2014/02/hijacked-plane-from-ukraine-lands-istanbul-201427171647580722.html)

[Blind Squirrel]

Aircraft was a B737-800, reg TC-CCP, performing flight PC751 from HRK-IST. The passenger, a Ukrainian national, was persuaded to surrender an hour after landing, having spoken with Ukrainian security forces. No reason given as yet.



Sabiha Gökçen Havalimaný'nda heyecanlý dakikalar - Hürriyet GÜNDEM (http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/25759679.asp)

[Jack1985]

I'm guessing this has more to do with recent tensions between US/Europe - Ukraine and Russia rather than Sochi itself.

[Airbubba]

Here's the politically incorrect Russian headline:

Drunk Ukrainian fails to hijack airliner on Kharkov-Istanbul-flight (http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_02_08/Drunk-Ukrainian-failed-to-hijack-airliner-on-Kharkov-Istanbul-flight-8075/)

[deptrai]

A complete nutcase obviously, big surprise there. Glad it ended well.

[fly4bux777]

Looks like the Turkish pilots handled it perfectly. Well done crew!

[Hotel Tango]

Have crew shut-down the entertainment system?

Not sure PGT are that well equipped. I believe they lean more towards a low cost operation. But I may be wrong!

[Huck]

American media are reporting that the ruse was almost exposed when the aircraft landed and everyone turned on their cell phones. They saw that they were connecting with a Turkish cell carrier......

[lomapaseo]

Have crew shut-down the entertainment system? So alleged hi-jacker can not follow where the aircraft is going?


Might work in other planes but according to the video this one doesn't seem to have any video.

[poorjohn]

HT: American media are reporting that the ruse was almost exposed when the aircraft landed and everyone turned on their cell phones. They saw that they were connecting with a Turkish cell carrier......

It would be good if those lessons - kill any flight-tracking info on the IFE system, and announce to pax that "local authorities have restricted cell-phone usage..." - made it into everyone's cabin-crew SOPs.

[BARKINGMAD]

Was the hijacker using some of that magic toothpaste? :)

[Kulverstukas]

I think he used only magic words.

[acbus1]

If I was a terrorist, the last place I'd want to be at the moment is the site of the Winter Olympics.

Still, it's a new twist on the term 'suicide bomber', with the emphasis being exclusively upon the 'suicide' element.