Hijack Attempt to Turkish Airlines Flight

The man had threatened in note to have a bomb strapped to his body during the journey from Turkey to St Petersburg in Russia. The assailant was then detained by fellow ticketholders aboard the Airbus A-320, which safely landed at its destination at 1120 GMT.

"The passenger claimed to have a bomb and wanted to divert the plane to a destination of his choice... The person was subdued and put under control," Orhan Birdal, the head of Turkey's airports management authority, said. "There is nothing to worry about on board at the moment," he said, adding that the incident occurred around 1000 GMT in Belarussian airspace as the plane was approaching Minsk.

The man, who was said to be drunk, handed a flight attendant a note for the pilot reading, "I have a bomb. If you don't take me in (the cockpit) I will blow it up," Turkish Airlines director Temel Kotil a local news agency.

"The man then attempted to walk towards the cockpit... and was overpowered by passengers," he said, adding that the man had no explosives.

His nationality was not immediately clear, Birdal said, while a Turkish television network reported he was of Uzbek origin, without specifying his official citizenship.

The flight, with 167 passengers on board, has now safely landed at its destination. The plane had set off from the southern Mediterranean resort of Antalya, a popular destination for Russian tourists. It was briefly thought the plane would have to be grounded in Russia.