Another Hijacking thread.

[Seadweller]

Turkish hijacking ends peacefully

Passengers jumped from the plane's exits


Passengers flee plane
Two men who tried to hijack a Turkish plane have surrendered after all 136 passengers and crew escaped unharmed.
The Atlas Jet plane was flying from Northern Cyprus to Istanbul when the two men tried to divert it to Iran.

Instead, the pilot landed the plane in the southern city of Antalya, claiming it needed refuelling.

Turkey's interior ministry said one of the hijackers was a Turkish national and the other had a Syrian passport. Their motives are not yet known.

Earlier, Turkish Cypriot officials said the two men were Iranian nationals protesting against actions of the United States.

The hijackers announced after the plane landed that women and children could leave.

But when the emergency exits were opened almost everyone rushed out, the BBC's Turkey correspondent Sarah Rainsford reports.

Many leapt from the wing of the plane to safety.

The two pilots also jumped from the cockpit on the tarmac, in order to avoid having to fly the plane to Tehran.

Eventually all passengers and crew members were released unharmed and the hijackers surrendered.

They are being questioned by interior ministry officials.

Passengers spoke of their panic as the hijack began, when, they said, the pilot appeared for a moment to lose control of the plane.