(CNN) — A Pegasus Airlines plane landed at an Istanbul airport on Friday after a passenger “said that there was a bomb on board” and wanted the plane to land in Sochi, Russia, officials with Turkey’s Transportation Ministry said.
“While the plane was in the air, one of the passengers said that there was a bomb on board and asked the plane to not land in Sabiha Gokcen (in Turkey) but rather to land in Sochi,” Transportation Ministry official Habip Soluk said Friday on CNNTurk.
The Winter Olympic Games began Thursday in Sochi amid intense security against potential terror attacks. Official opening ceremonies were being held Friday.
The plane sent a hijacking signal, and after landing it was being held in a safe zone at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport, Turkish state media outlet TRT reported.
The plane had been flying a route between Kharkhov, Ukraine and Istanbul, the Transportation Ministry representative said. It wasn’t clear in which city the flight started.
