Mid-air drama as passengers disarm drunk would-be hijacker 'who said he had a bomb'

A drunk man who claimed to have a bomb and tried to hijack a packed jet has been quickly overpowered by fellow passengers.

Some of the 162 passengers on board the Turkish Airlines jet tackled the man after he passed a note to a stewardess claiming he had a bomb strapped to his body.

The hijacker had attempted to take control of the aircraft as it flew en route from the southern Turkish resort of Anatalya to St Petersburg in Russia.

A Turkish Airlines jet has been hijacked on its way to St Petersburg

'He was so drunk, he gave a note to a stewardess claiming to have explosives on him,' said Temel Kotil, the manager of Turkish Airlines.

No explosives were discovered on the passenger.

The drama took place over Belarus and the plane has now landed in St Petersburg.

Last August, two Muslim men attempted to hijack a Turkish-bound jet as it flew from northern Cyprus and demanded that it be diverted to Iran.

After a stand-off with police at Anatalya airport in southern Turkey the pair surrendered and later apologised for their actions.

In 2006 a man attempted to hijack a Turkish Airlines jet as it flew to Istanbul.

Greek and Italian jets were scrambled and the jet was forced to land in Italy where the hijacker eventually surrendered.