Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee was on alert Tuesday after a passenger amid a Moscow-bound flight attempted to hijack the plane and threatened to divert it to Afghanistan.
The flight made an emergency landing in the Russian city of Khanty-Mansiysk, where police detained a drunken, bluffing man, CBC News reported.
The passenger, who claimed he was armed but was not, attempted to storm the cockpit of the Aeroflot plane en route to Moscow from the Siberian city of Surgut.
State television channel Rossiya-24 reportedly showed footage of masked security officers tackling the man on the plane and carrying him off with his hands behind his back.
WATCH:
Drunken would-be hijacker of #Aeroflot plane detained by police#Su1515 #Russia pic.twitter.com/K1rWvF8hqC
— Ruptly (@Ruptly) January 22, 2019
“The passengers and crew members on board the aircraft disembarked safely and without injury,” Aeroflot said in a statement. (RELATED: Buzzfeed’s Trump Story The Latest In Long List Of Russia Bombshells That Weren’t)
Incidents involving drunken passengers on flights in Russia are apparently not uncommon, according to CBC News, but this passenger’s request to divert the plane was unusual.
The drunken man’s crime of an attempted hijacking holds a potential jail sentencing of seven to 12 years.
A Russian military plane crashed in Russia’s northwestern region of Murmansk on Tuesday as well, and two of four crew members have reportedly died, according to the Russian News Agency.
Tupolev-22M3 bomber crashlands in Murmansk Region, says sourcehttps://t.co/FyCfjWQQUu pic.twitter.com/0j05rA3D3b
— TASS (@tassagency_en) January 22, 2019
It is not clear what caused the supersonic strike bomber to crash, but the accident occurred as the warplane was attempting to land.
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