Russian airliner lands in Prague after 'hijack attempt'

A Russian Aeroflot airliner made an unscheduled landing at Prague’s Ruzyne international airport today after an apparent hijacking attempt, Czech Republic police said.

The Airbus A320 flying from Moscow to Geneva, landed in Prague shortly before 11am (10am Irish time), said airport spokeswoman Pavlina Hajkova.

“From what we know now, the plane may have been hijacked,” police spokesman Pavel Hantak said.

But he added that police did not have to intervene as the hijacker was “already pacified on board the plane”.

Deputy director of Aeroflot, Lev Koshlyakov, told Rossiya television: “One of the passengers said he had an explosive device.”