A drunk passenger claiming to have a bomb tried to hijack a Russian-bound Turkish Airlines plane today but he was quickly overpowered, the airline said.

No explosives were discovered on the passenger, and the plane was descending safely toward its original destination, St. Petersburg, said Temel Kotil, a Turkish Airlines manager. "He was so drunk, he gave a note to a stewardess claiming to have explosives on him," Mr Kotil told NTV television.

Fuat Akin, deputy undersecretary of the Transportation Ministry, said passengers overpowered the assailant.

The plane, an Airbus A-320 with 162 passnegers aboard, was flying from Turkey’s Mediterranean resort city of Antalya, a popular destination for Russian tourists. The incident happened as it was flying over Belarus.

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