An Ingush-born businessman was detained on a plane by policemen posing as medics after a hijack scare at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport on Thursday, police said.
The passenger informed the crew of a plane flying to Moscow from Mineralniye Vody in the Stavropol region that he had “valuable information for law enforcement agencies,” Domodedovo spokeswoman Yelena Galanova said, Interfax reported.
The plane, operated by the Kavminvodyavia airline, was directed to a special parking area along with its other 104 passengers and crew after landing in Moscow at 3:45 p.m., Galanova said. After that, the passenger demanded to meet unspecified authorities and mass media representatives, she said.
The passenger was identified as Magomed Patiyev, a native of Ingushetia who runs a business in the Kazakh commercial capital, Almaty, a law enforcement source told Interfax.
It was unclear whether Patiyev was armed or had made any threats, or what sort of information he had to offer.
After a 2 1/2-hour standoff, police officers disguised as medics detained Patiyev after he allowed them to enter the cabin to treat a passenger who had fallen ill, Galanova said.
The authorities have opened an investigation, although no charges were reported against Patiyev late Thursday.
Hijacking a plane is punishable with up to eight years in prison, and taking hostages with up to 10 years.
Galanova said that at 2 1/2 hours, the incident might enter record books as the shortest hijacking in the history of civil aviation.
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