ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A Ukrainian passenger on an Istanbul-bound flight Friday claimed there was a bomb on board and tried to hijack the plane to Sochi, Russia, where the Olympics are kicking off, an official said. 
 
 The plane from Kharkiv, Ukraine, landed safely at Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport, but 110 passengers are still on board and authorities are trying to convince the alleged hijacker to give himself up, Habib Soluk, the country's Transport Ministry undersecretary, told NTV television. 
 
 The station reported the man had been subdued, but there was no immediate confirmation of that. The Interfax news agency cited the Ukrainian Security Service, the country's main security agency, as saying the passenger who tried to hijack the plane was in a state of severe alcohol intoxication. It also said he has been pacified, and no weapons or explosives were found on him, but it was not clear where the information was coming from. 
 
 Soluk said the man rose from his seat, shouted that there was bomb on board and tried to enter the locked cockpit. The pilot signaled that there was a hijack attempt and the airport was placed on high alert. 
 
 "The man was made to believe the plane was heading to Sochi," he said. "We are hoping that the passengers are evacuated without even a nose-bleed." 
 
 Pegasus Airlines confirmed in a brief statement there was a "bomb threat" aboard their flight from Kharkiv. 
 
 The plane's captain, Ilyas Karagulle, signaled that the crew was well, according to state-run TRT television. 
 
 With about 100,000 police, security agents and army troops flooding Sochi, Russia has pledged to ensure "the safest Olympics in history." But terror fears fueled by recent suicide bombings have left athletes, spectators and officials worldwide jittery about potential threats. 
 
 Security experts warn that Islamic militants in the Caucasus, who have threatened to derail the Winter Games that run from Feb. 7-23, could achieve their goal by choosing soft targets away from the Olympic sites or even outside Sochi. 
 
 The back-to-back December suicide bombings of a railway station and a bus in Volgograd, about 640 kilometers (400 miles) east of Sochi, killed 34 people and demonstrated the militants' ability to strike with shocking ease. A jihadist group in Dagestan, the epicenter of the Islamic rebellion against Russia that has engulfed the Caucasus, claimed responsibility for the Volgograd bombings and has threatened to strike Sochi. 
 
 NTV television said that an F-16 fighter plane was scrambled as soon as the pilot signaled that there was a hijacking attempt. ||||| The Pegasus Airlines plane from the Ukrainian city of Kharkov on the tarmac of Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport, February 7, 2014. 
 
 ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish security forces on Friday seized a Ukrainian man who officials said made a bomb threat and tried to hijack a passenger plane, demanding to go to the Winter Olympics venue of Sochi just as the opening ceremony was taking place. 
 
 Turkey scrambled an F-16 fighter jet to accompany the Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737-800 plane as it landed at Sabiha Gokcen airport at 6.05 p.m. (1605 GMT), after a flight from the Ukrainian city of Kharkov with 110 passengers on board. 
 
 The incident came at a time when security officials internationally are on high alert for possible militant attacks connected to the Games. 
 
 The suspect, a 45-year-old man, had a small bag containing electronic goods but no bomb, Istanbul Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu told reporters after the operation to capture him. 
 
 "None of the passengers were harmed and a successful operation was carried out," Mutlu said. 
 
 He said some force had to be used to seize the suspect. 
 
 "He was captured as a result of a struggle without the need to use any weapons. The hijacker was slightly wounded," he said. 
 
 There was no evidence of the suspect being linked to any organisation but investigations would be conducted, he said. 
 
 The governor had arrived at the airport earlier in the evening to take charge of a crisis centre to handle the incident. Ambulances and fire engines were sent to the scene. 
 
 A Transport Ministry official said all passengers were evacuated from the plane before the operation, which took place shortly before 10 p.m. (2000 GMT). 
 
 A photograph displayed by the broadcaster NTV showed a man wearing a red, white and blue sports top, believed to be the suspect, standing up from his seat near the front of the plane as a steward looked on. 
 
 Video footage also showed passengers sitting calmly on the aircraft before the operation was carried out. 
 
 Media reports had said the suspect was believed to have drunk alcohol, but the governor could not confirm those reports. 
 
 Several U.S. and European security officials have said that last-minute intelligence reports about possible Olympics-related attacks continue to flow into Western agencies. 
 
 President Vladimir Putin has staked his political and personal prestige on the Sochi Games, intended to show how far Russia has come since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. A bombing, hijacking or hostage crisis would seriously threaten those ambitions. 
 
 (Reporting by Orhan Coskun and Evrim Ergin; Writing by Daren Butler and Nick Tattersall; Editing by Dasha Afanasieva and Sonya Hepinstall) ||||| ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A Ukrainian man who allegedly tried to hijack a Turkey-bound commercial flight and divert it to Sochi on the day of the Winter Olympics' opening ceremony wanted to press for the release of anti-government protesters in his country, authorities said Saturday. 
 
 Turkish security officials enter the private Turkish company Pegasus plane before they evacuate passengers at the Sabiha Gokcen Airport in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, Feb. 7, 2014. An official says authorities... (Associated Press) 
 
 Passengers of private Turkish company Pegasus leave the plane at the Sabiha Gokcen Airport in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, Feb. 7, 2014. An official says authorities have subdued a man who attempted to hijack... (Associated Press) 
 
 Turkey's transport minister suggested the man probably acted alone and didn't have any links to terror groups. 
 
 The 45-year old Ukrainian man, identified by Turkish media as Artem Hozlov, claimed he had a bomb and tried to divert a Pegasus Airlines flight, which originated in Kharkiv, Ukraine, to Sochi, Russia, on Friday. The crew tricked him and landed the plane in Istanbul instead where he was subdued by security officers who sneaked on board. Turkish authorities said no bomb was found. 
 
 The foiled hijacking took place as thousands of athletes from around the world poured into a tightly-secured stadium in Sochi amid warnings the games could be a terror target. 
 
 The man was being questioned by police for possible links to terror groups, according to Turkey's state-run TRT television. It wasn't clear when charges would be brought. 
 
 "We think it was an individual thing," Transport Minister Lutfi Elvan told reporters in response to questions on to whether the incident was a "terrorist" act. "It may be linked to (events in) Ukraine... Our colleagues say it is not a serious issue." 
 
 Maxim Lenko, the head of the Ukrainian Security Service's investigative division, said the Kharkiv resident wanted to divert the plane to Sochi where Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych were meeting on the sidelines of the Olympics. 
 
 "The passenger put forth the demand to free the 'hostages' in Ukraine," Lenko said, in reference to people arrested in the ongoing protests in Ukraine. "Otherwise, he threatened to blow up the plane." 
 
 Turkey's private NTV television quoting an unnamed passenger on board the plane said the man was demanding freedom for prisoners in Ukraine as well as former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is Yanukovych's top foe and serving a seven-year sentence on charges of abuse of office. 
 
 Huge protests began in Ukraine when Yanukovych shelved an agreement to deepen ties with the 28-nation European Union in favor of getting a $15 billion loan from Russia. Many Ukrainians resent the long shadow Russia has cast over Ukraine. 
 
 The protests quickly expanded their grievances to calls for Yanukovych's resignation and the denunciation of police violence after the brutal dispersal of some early peaceful rallies. The demonstrations erupted into clashes last month after Yanukovych approved harsh laws against protesters. At least three protesters died in the clashes. 
 
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 Jim Heintz in Kiev contributed to this report.
– As the opening ceremony of the Olympics was unfolding this morning, a passenger aboard a Turkish plane tried to divert it to Sochi, reports CNN. The man, identified only as Ukrainian, announced that a bomb was on board and ordered that the plane fly to Russia, authorities say. He reportedly tried unsuccessfully to get into the cockpit, and the pilot brought the plane down safely in Istanbul. It may not be a serious security threat, however. The AP quotes the Interfax news agency as saying the passenger was "in a state of severe alcohol intoxication," and Reuters says the crew was able to calm him down. Accounts differ, but most now say the man is in custody.