May Day activist attempted to hijack airplane

Ömer Bilge NICOSIA

An airline passenger attempted to hijack an airplane going from Nicosia to Ankara on May 1, threatening to detonate a bomb if the pilots refused to divert the flight to Istanbul. The hijacker reportedly said he wanted to join the May Day demonstrations in Turkey’s largest city.

The 50-year-old man, who was not named by the authorities, told the cabin crew of the Anadolu Jet airplane at 06.45 that he was carrying a bomb in his jacket.

He then locked himself in the plane’s toilet, shouting that he had a GPS device and would blow up the plane if they did not go to Istanbul, according to passenger Kansu Aksu who spoke to daily Hürriyet.

The plane eventually landed in Ankara anyway.

“After the plane landed in Ankara, over 10 policemen pulled the man from the toilet and detained him. The passengers are in now shock,” Aksu said.