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Passenger sparks hijack alert on Russian flight


    MOSCOW (Reuters) - A passenger on a Russian internal flight triggered a hijack scare on Friday, a law enforcement source told Interfax news agency, the second such incident in nine days on a plane full of Russians.

    A man shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) demanded the plane flying to Moscow from the Black Sea resort of Sochi -- which is due to stage the 2014 winter Olympics -- divert to Vienna, the source initially said.

    Later, Interfax quoted a law enforcement source as saying the incident might have been caused by a drunk passenger and that the situation had been calmed before the flight landed.

    "The situation is under control," Interfax quoted the source as saying.

    Sochi is a popular resort city for Russians. It lies only a few hours' drive from the restive Muslim regions of Ingushetia and Chechnya, where Russian forces are fighting to contain rebel insurgents.

    Russia's aviation authority said the flight -- operated by the Russian budget airline SkyExpress -- had landed safely at Moscow's Vnukovo airport.

    "Seventeen minutes after take off one of the passengers said that there is the threat of explosion," a spokesman for the aviation authority said.

    "The aircraft has now safely landed in Vnukovo and the FSB is already dealing with this situation."

    The FSB is Russia's internal security agency.

    Last week Turkish Airlines said a drunk had claimed to have a bomb on a flight flying Russian tourists between the resort town of Antalya and St Petersburg.

    (Reporting by James Kilner; Editing by Myra MacDonald)