Aircraft
Aeroflot 737 Lands Safely after Hijacking Attempt
A passenger aboard the flight ordered pilots to divert to Afghanistan.

An Aeroflot Boeing 737-800 on its way to Moscow from the Siberian city of Surgut landed safety Tuesday at an alternate airport in Khanty-Mansiysk after a passenger claiming to be armed ordered the airplane’s pilots to divert to Afghanistan. The crew told the attacker that the airplane needed to land for refueling before it could proceed to Afghanistan. Rather, once in Khanty-Mansiysk, ground crews towed the narrowbody to a remote area of the airfield, where anti-terrorism forces arrested the would-be hijacker. The man--41-year-old Pavel Shapovalov--has served several prison terms, but never for weapons convictions.