Passengers flee hijacked plane

Two men claiming to be carrying a bomb hijacked a Turkish passenger plane heading from northern Cyprus to Istanbul today.

Most passengers escaped the aircraft after it landed at an airport on the Turkish Mediterranean coast and security forces were trying to convince the hijackers to release the last five hostages onboard.

NTV television later showed the remaining three passengers leaving the plane, but two crew members were still onboard.

The Atlas-Jet airliner, with 136 passengers and six crew, left Ercan airport in Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus at 6.45am (4.45am Irish time).

Shortly after takeoff, the hijackers asked that the plane be diverted to Iran but the pilots landed the plane at Antalya airport, saying they needed to refuel, chief executive of the private Atlas-Jet airline Tuncay Doganer said.

Most of the passengers managed to escape from the rear exit of the plane while the hijackers were releasing the women and children from the front exit, passengers said. Some sustained injuries during the escape, Doganer added.

At least two passengers claimed that the hijackers were members of al-Qaida, but others said they had not heard the men say that.

Turkish Cypriot Transport Minister Salih Usar said the two hijackers were Iranian and that they had hijacked the plane in order to protest US policies. He did not elaborate.

Doganer said two crew members and four passengers were left on board, but one of the hostages was later released. Security forces were communicating with the hijackers to convince them to surrender and release the hostages.

Aydin Kiziltan, chief executive of Worldfocus, which owns the plane and had leased it to Atlas-Jet, said the pilots had also left the aircraft to prevent the hijackers from forcing them to fly the plane. The pilots left through the cockpit window under orders from security forces, aviation authorities said.

One passenger who was not identified said anti-terror teams had surrounded the plane.

CNN-Turk television said the hijacker were making demands for a new pilot to fly them to “any country in the Middle East.”

“The issue is extremely sensitive. Negotiations regarding the hostages’ lives are under way,” Ali Ariduru, the head of the Civil Aviation Authority told reporters.

Passengers said there were two hijackers onboard and that they spoke Arabic between themselves.

One passenger, Erhan Erkul, told NTV television that the hijackers ran towards the cockpit shortly after takeoff, tried to break down the door but failed.

“They claimed to have bombs,” Erkul said.

Erkul said the hijackers were from al-Qaida, but another passenger said the hijackers did not make any announcement about who they were.

A woman, who was not identified, said the hijackers allowed the crew to serve water to the passengers and promised not to harm them.

“We are Muslims,” passengers quoted one of the hijackers as saying.

The hijackers allowed one of the gates on the side of the plane to be opened for fresh air after the pilots switched off the air conditioning before leaving the plane – a routine precaution against possible explosions – and some passengers fainted.

The hijackers later freed the women and children, ordering the men to sit down, said a female passenger.

But some of the men also jumped out and other passengers broke the rear door and escaped, the passenger said.

The pilots communicated with the hijackers through a telephone outside the cockpit cabin.

There have been several hijackings of Turkish planes in recent years despite increased security measures at airports. In most cases, the hijackers surrendered and the passengers were safely evacuated.