Turkish Airlines hijacker disarmed, plane continues en route to St Petersburg

Istanbul: A man attempted to hijack a Turkish Airlines plane on a flight to Russia on Wednesday but was disarmed by fellow passengers, an airport spokeswoman said.

Passengers on the aircraft, which had taken off from the southern Mediterranean Turkish resort of Antalya, overpowered the assailant after he said he had a bomb strapped to his body, the spokeswoman for airport operator TAV said.

The plane, with 162 passengers on board, was shortly due to land in St Petersburg.