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Ukrainian security service says failed skyjacker in Turkey was drunk

KIEV, February 07. /ITAR-TASS/. The man who made an attempt to skyjack a plane bound from Ukraine’s Kharkov to Turkey’s Istanbul was drunk, the press service of the Ukrainian Security Service said on Friday.

“The man was drunk and tried to get into the flight deck. The crew calmed him down and the jet continued its flight and landed in Istanbul in the routine mode. The man was turned to the local police,” the press service said.

Earlier on Friday, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said on its official website it was taking effort to establish the citizenship of the man. “The Turkish side reported an incident aboard a plan making a flight from Kharkov to Istanbul,” the ministry said. “One of the passengers, who, according to preliminary information, might be a Ukrainian citizen, made an attempt to force the crew to steer the pane to Russia’s Sochi. The crew sent out a distress signal and landed in the Istanbul airport.”

“The Ukrainian embassy in Turkey maintains contacts with the Turkish law enforcement agencies. A Ukrainian diplomat from the consulate general in Istanbul is at the airport to establish the citizenship of the suspect and probe into the details of the incident,” the ministry said.

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