A man on a Turkish Airlines flight from the resort town of Antalya, Turkey to the Russian city of St. Petersburg threatened to blow up the plane unless it was diverted. The man, who appeared to be drunk, approached a flight attendant and handed her a note to give to the pilot: “I have a bomb. If you don’t take me in (the cockpit) I will blow it up,” As he stumbled toward the front of the plane, he was overpowered by passengers. No explosives were found despite his insistence that there was a bomb strapped on his body. He appeared so inebriated that passengers did not take him seriously.
Turkish journalists have reported that the man was an Uzbek national, but his identity and true nationality have not yet been confirmed. After he was subdued, the plane continued on to its destination, though Turkish Airlines officials briefly considered setting it down immediately as a precaution. There were 167 passengers on board the aircraft, an Airbus A-320.
