Forces Overpower Hijacker in Moscow

A hijacker claiming to be wired with explosives seized a Russian plane but was overpowered by commandos after he demanded $10 million and safe passage to Switzerland. All 155 crew members and passengers aboard the Ilyushin-62 were released unharmed after Alpha Squad commandos rushed the plane and grabbed the hijacker less than an hour after the flight landed at the airport in Moscow. Security officials said the man, identified as Gennady Todikov, 59, was mentally unstable and had sent letters to the government calling for the “reconstruction of the world.” Todikov, in television footage, said he was frustrated when he received no answer to letters sent to President Boris N. Yeltsin and the government asking to emigrate.