Passengers Escape as Hijacking in Turkey Goes Awry
By SEBNEM ARSU | August 19, 2007
ISTANBUL, Aug. 18 — Two men tried to hijack a Turkish passenger plane with 142 people aboard on Saturday but failed after pilots arranged an emergency landing in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya and the two lost control of the passengers.
Television footage Saturday showed people leaving the plane at the airport in Antalya, Turkey.
The plane was en route to Istanbul from Nicosia, in northern Cyprus, when the hijackers, identified by Turkish officials as Mehmet Resat Ozlu, a Turkish national, and Abdulaziz Maliki, a Syrian holding a Palestinian passport, demanded that it be diverted to Iran. They were protesting actions by the United States administration, the officials said.
The pilots reported being under attack minutes after the Atlas Jet flight, carrying 136 passengers and six crew members, took off.
The two men, shouting in Arabic, ran to the cockpit door and tried unsuccessfully to kick it open. One held a plastic bag and said it contained a bomb, passengers told NTV, the private television network.
“I saw these two men at the airport; they had odd looks,” Erhan Erkul, one of the passengers, told NTV. On the plane, he added, “They said they were Al Qaeda members.”
The pilots convinced the hijackers that the plane needed to refuel and landed in Antalya. Then they kicked open the cockpit windows and fled the plane. The hijackers decided to free the women and children on board, but as people began filing out of the plane through two side doors, passengers forced open a door at the back of the plane and, in a sudden flood, most of the remaining hostages escaped.
State-run television pictures showed people jumping to the ground one after another and running away in panic.
Some civil aviation experts here questioned the actions of both the pilots and passengers, but Ali Ariduru, head of the Turkish civil aviation, said that they took the right course under the circumstances.
After more than five hours of negotiations, the hijackers released the remaining four passengers and two crew members and surrendered.
Allegations that the two men were linked to Al Qaeda or other organizations were under investigation, Osman Gunes, Turkey’s interior minister, said in a news conference afterward.
“We’re going to investigate further as to what kind of objectives they had,” he said.
Showing posts with label hijacking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hijacking. Show all posts
Telegraph : Hijack bungle as pilots and passengers escape
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Hijack bungle as pilots and passengers escape
By Gethin Chamberlain | Sunday Telegraph | August 19, 2007
An attempt to hijack a passenger plane and fly it to Iran ended in shambles when the hijackers inadvertently allowed the pilots to get off after it landed to refuel.
Most of the remaining hostages then escaped through the rear exit while their captors were supervising a release of women and children at the front. The Turkish Atlas-Jet airliner was hijacked shortly after take-off at 7.15am yesterday by two men claiming to have a bomb. It had just left Ercan airport in northern Cyprus, en route for Istanbul.
The hijackers bungled from the start. They tried to break down the door to the cockpit, but failed and resorted to talking to the pilots on a phone outside the door.
The hijackers demanded to be flown to Iran or Syria, but the pilots persuaded them that the plane had to land at the southern Turkish resort of Antalya to refuel.
The plane, carrying 136 passengers and six crew, duly returned to the ground only for the hijackers to quickly lose control of the situation. As the they were releasing women and children from the front exit, most of the other passengers managed to escape through doors towards the rear of the plane, scrambling over the wings and jumping to safety. The pilots, meanwhile, climbed out of the cockpit window and made good their escape under the supervision of the security forces.
With only six hostages left - two crew and four passengers - the hijackers demanded that the pilots return to fly them to "any country in the Middle East", but were persuaded of the hopelessness of their situation and surrendered.
At least two passengers said the hijackers were members of al-Qaeda, but others said they had not heard the claims.
Government officials in Northern Cyprus said the two men were Iranians protesting against the US. An Iranian government spokesman said they would not have been permitted to land, describing hijacking as a "detestable act".
The bomb the two men were thought to be carrying later turned out to be made of modelling clay.
The Turkish Interior Minister, Osman Gunes, identified one of the hijackers as a Turkish national, Mehmet Resat Ozlu, and the other as Abdul Aziz Maliki, a Palestinian travelling on a Syrian passport. "We persuaded them to surrender themselves," he said. "They are currently being questioned by police."
One passenger, Erhan Erkul, saw the hijackers run towards the cockpit shortly after takeoff and try, but fail, to break down the door. "They claimed to have bombs," he said.
Hakki Dogusoy, another passenger, said they had promised not to harm those on board. "They said 'We are Muslims. You are Muslims too. We will not do you any harm'," he said.
There have been several hijackings of Turkish planes in recent years. Hijacks and bomb threats are used as tactics by a number of radical groups, ranging from Leftist militants to Kurdish separatists. In most cases, the hijackers have surrendered and the passengers have been safely evacuated.
By Gethin Chamberlain | Sunday Telegraph | August 19, 2007
An attempt to hijack a passenger plane and fly it to Iran ended in shambles when the hijackers inadvertently allowed the pilots to get off after it landed to refuel.
Most of the remaining hostages then escaped through the rear exit while their captors were supervising a release of women and children at the front. The Turkish Atlas-Jet airliner was hijacked shortly after take-off at 7.15am yesterday by two men claiming to have a bomb. It had just left Ercan airport in northern Cyprus, en route for Istanbul.
The hijackers bungled from the start. They tried to break down the door to the cockpit, but failed and resorted to talking to the pilots on a phone outside the door.
The hijackers demanded to be flown to Iran or Syria, but the pilots persuaded them that the plane had to land at the southern Turkish resort of Antalya to refuel.
The plane, carrying 136 passengers and six crew, duly returned to the ground only for the hijackers to quickly lose control of the situation. As the they were releasing women and children from the front exit, most of the other passengers managed to escape through doors towards the rear of the plane, scrambling over the wings and jumping to safety. The pilots, meanwhile, climbed out of the cockpit window and made good their escape under the supervision of the security forces.
With only six hostages left - two crew and four passengers - the hijackers demanded that the pilots return to fly them to "any country in the Middle East", but were persuaded of the hopelessness of their situation and surrendered.
At least two passengers said the hijackers were members of al-Qaeda, but others said they had not heard the claims.
Government officials in Northern Cyprus said the two men were Iranians protesting against the US. An Iranian government spokesman said they would not have been permitted to land, describing hijacking as a "detestable act".
The bomb the two men were thought to be carrying later turned out to be made of modelling clay.
The Turkish Interior Minister, Osman Gunes, identified one of the hijackers as a Turkish national, Mehmet Resat Ozlu, and the other as Abdul Aziz Maliki, a Palestinian travelling on a Syrian passport. "We persuaded them to surrender themselves," he said. "They are currently being questioned by police."
One passenger, Erhan Erkul, saw the hijackers run towards the cockpit shortly after takeoff and try, but fail, to break down the door. "They claimed to have bombs," he said.
Hakki Dogusoy, another passenger, said they had promised not to harm those on board. "They said 'We are Muslims. You are Muslims too. We will not do you any harm'," he said.
There have been several hijackings of Turkish planes in recent years. Hijacks and bomb threats are used as tactics by a number of radical groups, ranging from Leftist militants to Kurdish separatists. In most cases, the hijackers have surrendered and the passengers have been safely evacuated.
VOA : Fake Bomb Used in Turkish Cypriot Plane Hijacking
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Fake Bomb Used in Turkish Cypriot Plane Hijacking
By VOA News | August 18, 2007
Turkish media say two men who tried to hijack a Turkish Cypriot flight to the Middle East Saturday did not have a bomb as they claimed.
Reports quoting Turkish authorities say the so-called bomb the hijackers used to threaten the plane's 136 passengers and six crewmembers turned out to be modeling clay. However, police say at least one of the hijackers had a knife.
Both men later peacefully surrendered to police after most of the people aboard the aircraft either escaped or were released during a refueling stop at Antalya Airport in southwestern Turkey.
Authorities also detained one passenger as a suspected accomplice.
The two hijackers seized control of an Atlasjet flight traveling from northern Cyprus to Istanbul early Saturday, demanding to be flown to Iran or Syria. Passengers interviewed after the incident on Turkish television said the hijackers claimed to have ties with al-Qaida.
The motive for the hijacking is not clear.
Authorities say one suspect is Turkish. The other has a Syrian passport, but is believed to be Palestinian.
Officials say some of the passengers and crew who fled the plane suffered minor injuries when they jumped from the aircraft's open door to the Antalya Airport tarmac. The pilots escaped through the cockpit windows, and they shut off the plane's power to prevent the hijackers from taking off.
Cyprus has been divided into a Greek Cypriot south and a Turkish Cypriot north since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded the island in response to a Greek-backed military coup in Nicosia. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot state.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
By VOA News | August 18, 2007
Turkish media say two men who tried to hijack a Turkish Cypriot flight to the Middle East Saturday did not have a bomb as they claimed.
Reports quoting Turkish authorities say the so-called bomb the hijackers used to threaten the plane's 136 passengers and six crewmembers turned out to be modeling clay. However, police say at least one of the hijackers had a knife.
Both men later peacefully surrendered to police after most of the people aboard the aircraft either escaped or were released during a refueling stop at Antalya Airport in southwestern Turkey.
Authorities also detained one passenger as a suspected accomplice.
The two hijackers seized control of an Atlasjet flight traveling from northern Cyprus to Istanbul early Saturday, demanding to be flown to Iran or Syria. Passengers interviewed after the incident on Turkish television said the hijackers claimed to have ties with al-Qaida.
The motive for the hijacking is not clear.
Authorities say one suspect is Turkish. The other has a Syrian passport, but is believed to be Palestinian.
Officials say some of the passengers and crew who fled the plane suffered minor injuries when they jumped from the aircraft's open door to the Antalya Airport tarmac. The pilots escaped through the cockpit windows, and they shut off the plane's power to prevent the hijackers from taking off.
Cyprus has been divided into a Greek Cypriot south and a Turkish Cypriot north since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded the island in response to a Greek-backed military coup in Nicosia. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot state.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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