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RUSSIA-AVIATION
Russian plane emergency lands after passenger demands diversion
MOSCOW, Jan 22, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A Russian domestic flight made an
emergency landing in Siberia Tuesday after a passenger demanded the plane
change course, authorities said.
Russia’s Anti-Terrorism Committee said in a statement the Aeroflot plane,
travelling from Surgut in western Siberia to Moscow, “changed course at the
demand of one of the passengers”.
“The aircraft commander decided to land the plane in Khanty Mansiysk,” a
city 2,700 (1,700 miles) kilometres east of Moscow, the committee said.
It provided no further detail, saying investigators were working to
“clarify all circumstances of what happened”.
Russian news agency Interfax quoted aviation sources as saying a man had
demanded the plane be diverted to Afghanistan.
Some reports said the man was detained, but others that he was still on
the plane. It was not clear whether the man had been armed.
Authorities cut off access to Khanty Mansiysk Airport following the
incident, agencies reported.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1909 hrs