A Ukrainian man attempted Friday to hijack an airliner en route from Ukraine to Turkey and divert it to Sochi where the Winter Olympics are taking place, Turkish media reports said.
The man claimed there was a bomb on board the Pegasus Airlines aircraft, tried to gain access to the cockpit and was carrying a detonator, the unconfirmed reports said.
The pilot managed to sound the alert and an F-16 Turkish military jet was scrambled, forcing the plane with some 110 passengers on board to land in Istanbul, the reports said.
Turkish anti-terrorist commandos and armed police were searching all the passengers the aircraft for explosives, the reports said.