--- description: An alleged bomber reportedly tried to divert the flight to Sochi, where the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics were under way title: Turkey Searches Plane After Passenger Says Bomb On Board image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4056f4fbc76e3302/6986822d810bbb7f48c901a7/hijack-airplane-sochi-turkey.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [olympics](/tag/olympics/) ## olympics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Turkish Officials Search Plane After Bomb Threat  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 7, 2014 5:42 PM CUT  Turkish police forces arrive at the scene after hijacked airplane of a Turkish company Pegasus Airlines was landed at Sabiha Gokcen Airport in Istanbul, on Feb. 7, 2014. Turkish police forces arrive at the scene after hijacked airplane of a Turkish company Pegasus Airlines was landed at Sabiha Gokcen Airport in Istanbul, on Feb. 7, 2014.Tolga Bozoglu—EPA  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 7, 2014 5:42 PM CUT A flight from Ukraine to Istanbul was being [searched](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/turkish-authorities-search-plane-over-bomb-claimhttp://bigstory.ap.org/article/turkish-authorities-search-plane-over-bomb-claim "undefined") by Turkish security forces on Friday after a passenger claimed a bomb was on board and, [according to some reports](http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/07/world/europe/turkey-flight-bomb-threat/index.html?hpt=hp%5Ft2 "undefined"), demanded the plane be rerouted to the site of the Winter Olympics in Russia. “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 \[in Turkey\] but rather to land in Sochi,” Habip Soluk, a Turkish transportation official, told CNNTurk. Earlier, an unnamed Turkish official denied a report from the Dogan news agency that an alleged bomber tried to divert the flight to Sochi, where the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics were under way, the Associated Press reports. [Security has been tight](http://world.time.com/2014/01/07/fortress-sochi-russias-security-plan-risks-the-killing-olympic-spirit/ "undefined") in Sochi amid terror threats, and the United States this week [banned](http://nation.time.com/2014/02/06/tsa-bans-carry-on-liquids-on-flights-to-russia/?iid=tsmodule "undefined") all liquids, gels and aerosols in carry-on baggage on flights between Russia and the U.S. The flight, from Kharkov, Ukraine, landed safely in Istanbul and was being searched in a “safe area” of the airport, the Turkish official said. Officials later said a suspect was in custody, NBC News reports. A Turkish journalist posted on Twitter what was purportedly a photograph of the suspect in the attempted hijacking, though that could not be immediately verified. > [](https://twitter.com/ceylanozbudak/status/431852634480599040) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5476/ukraine-turkey-airplane-bomb-threat-sochi/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5476/ukraine-turkey-airplane-bomb-threat-sochi/"},"headline":"Turkish Officials Search Plane After Bomb Threat","datePublished":"2014-02-07T17:42:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:20:11.380Z","description":"An alleged bomber reportedly tried to divert the flight to Sochi, where the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics were under way","url":"https://time.com/5476/ukraine-turkey-airplane-bomb-threat-sochi/","keywords":["olympics","Sochi","Turkey","Bombing"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4056f4fbc76e3302/6986822d810bbb7f48c901a7/hijack-airplane-sochi-turkey.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4056f4fbc76e3302/6986822d810bbb7f48c901a7/hijack-airplane-sochi-turkey.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Turkish police forces arrive at the scene after hijacked airplane of a Turkish company Pegasus Airlines was landed at Sabiha Gokcen Airport in Istanbul, on Feb. 7, 2014.","caption":"Turkish police forces arrive at the scene after hijacked airplane of a Turkish company Pegasus Airlines was landed at Sabiha Gokcen Airport in Istanbul, on Feb. 7, 2014.","creditText":"Tolga Bozoglu—EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/olympics/","name":"olympics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5476/ukraine-turkey-airplane-bomb-threat-sochi/","name":"Turkish Officials Search Plane After Bomb Threat"}}]}] ```