WORLD : Soviet Jet Hijacked to Finland
A Soviet man who claimed he had a bomb hijacked an Aeroflot passenger jet on a domestic flight and forced its crew to fly today to Helsinki, where he surrendered to police and asked for political asylum, national radio reported.
None of the 66 passengers or six crew members aboard were hurt, the report said. The hijacked aircraft landed at 5:30 a.m.
Police Chief Commissioner Kauko Karhuviita said the Tupolev aircraft had been en route to Moscow from Leningrad when the hijacker threatened to blow it up.
“The hijacker wanted to fly to Stockholm, but the plane landed here. The situation is under control now,” Karhuviita said in a radio interview.
Three Soviet planes have been hijacked to Finland this year. The government extradited two hijackers and refused political asylum to a third, who is in police custody.
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