Passengers thwart airline hijack

A drunken passenger is overpowered on a Turkish Airlines flight to St Petersburg after claiming to have a bomb.

ANKARA, TURKEY // A drunk passenger claiming to have a bomb tried to hijack a Russian-bound Turkish Airlines plane today but was quickly overpowered, the airline said. No explosives were discovered on the passenger, and the plane was descending safely toward its original destination of St Petersburg, the Turkish Airlines manager Temel Kotil told NTV television. "He was so drunk, he gave a note to a stewardess claiming to have explosives on him," Mr Kotil said. Fuat Akin, deputy undersecretary of the Transportation Ministry, said passengers overpowered the assailant. The plane was flying from the Turkish Mediterranean resort city of Antalya, a popular destination for Russian tourists. *AP