Games authorities say the attempted hijacking of a Turkish passenger jet posed no threat during the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, according to dpa. Organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko Saturday described the attempted hijacking, in which a man demanded a plane flying to Istanbul from Ukraine divert to Sochi, as "a hooligan incident." News of the attempted hijacking came during Friday evening's Games opening ceremony in the Fisht Stadium. Chernyshenko said he was not in a position to say at what point of the ceremony Russian President Vladimir Putin, who declared the Games open, was informed of the incident. "There were not any threats, and I know that Ukraine and Turkish authorities did their best to fix this hooligan incident," he said. Russia authorities did not impose a no-fly zone over Sochi before the opening ceremony, he said. International Olympic Committee media director Mark Adams said he did not know when IOC president Thomas Bach was informed of the incident. "He was informed at some stage but I don't know exactly how that was done so I can't comment any further, I'm afraid," he said. Security is high in Sochi for the Games following terrorist threats and the December bombing in Volgograd which killed more than 30 people. According to Turkish media reports of Friday's incident, a man demanded that the Pegasus Airlines plane with 110 passengers on board divert to Sochi. The plane had taken off from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, 450 kilometres east of Kiev. It landed safely at its scheduled destination, Istanbul, where police deployed a tactical squad and the suspect was taken into custody. Initial information indicated the man was a Ukrainian, the Anadolu news agency reported. The motive behind the incident was not known.
