New Delhi: A drunken Russian passenger on an Aeroflot airliner forced an emergency landing when he claimed he had an explosive device.
The man burst into the cockpit and demanded that the plane change course and fly to Africa instead of its original destination, Geneva.
''He demanded a change of route to Cairo,'' Aeroflot spokeswoman Irina Dannenberg told the Associated Press.
Aeroflot identified the passenger as Yevgeny Dagayev, born in 1974. It was not immediately clear whether the suspect had been drunk, but Dagayev has been detained nonetheless.
The suspect was subdued and detained, and was slightly injured, police said. They did not however, provide any details of the injury.
The plane - on its way from Moscow to Geneva - was forced to land at Prague's Ruzyne international airport.
An Aeroflot spokesman has described the incident as "a case of hooliganism". However, Czech news sources say the commotion was caused by a spat between the passenger and his wife and the authorities too said they did not suspect terrorism.
Two Gripen jet fighters were on alert, Czech Defense Ministry spokesman Andrej Cirtek said. ''We had two planes in the air ready to intervene, but no intervention was necessary,'' he said.
The suspect was traveling with eight family members, including three children, Hantak said. He said the family was not involved in the incident.
(With inputs from Associated Press)
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