Russian hockey star threatens to blow up plane after being denied Vodka
Russian hockey player Andrei Sidyakin caused a commotion on a flight when he demanded vodka and threatened to blow up the plane.
A Russian hockey player caused a commotion on a domestic flight when he demanded vodka and threatened to blow up the plane.
Andrei Sidyakin, 39, who plays for the Russian Hockey League team Monetka in Yekaterinburg, was on a flight from Moscow to Ural when he became unruly and asked the flight attendants for alcohol. When they refused to serve him, he claimed that he had a bomb and tried to open the plane’s door.
Mash, (an online Russian news outlet), reported on Telegram, one of the most widely used Russian-language channels on the instant messaging service, that Sidyakin displayed "disruptive behavior" and persistently "harassed" the flight attendants for a drink. He ignored their warnings and “went for broke.”
The flight attendants had to spend the rest of the flight, which did not seem to have been diverted, searching for any signs of a bomb or weapon.
Upon landing in Moscow, security personnel from Sheremetyevo Airport and police officers conducted a thorough search of the aircraft.
Sidyakin was not arrested but was barred from continuing his journey to Ural and told to find another way there.
Notably, a similar incident was handled very differently from a flight in January from Russia to India that was interrupted and delayed for several hours after a bomb threat was made on board.
A chartered flight carrying 244 passengers traveling from Moscow to Goa was compelled to make an emergency landing at Jamnagar Airport in India. This occurred due to an email warning received by the air traffic control (ATC) in Goa, suggesting the presence of a bomb on the Russian aircraft.
“We got an alert from the Jamnagar ATC that a Russian flight was making an emergency landing in Jamnagar. Therefore, we rushed to the airport,” said Premsukh Delu, superintendent of Jamnagar district police, according to Indian Express.
Jamnagar police quickly reached the airport, where all 236 passengers on board Azur Air flight 4501 were ordered to evacuate immediately.
Law enforcement, personnel from the Indian Air Force, and the Army formed a security perimeter around the plane. A specialized bomb disposal team was summoned to conduct a thorough search of the aircraft, while passengers and crew anxiously awaited confirmation regarding the resumption of their travel plans.
However, like Sidyakin’s threat, it turned out to be a hoax after 12 hours of searching. The flight departed for Goa 15 hours after it was made to make the emergency landing.
“The teams scanned the entire plane and luggage of passengers and nothing suspicious was found, suggesting the threat was a hoax,” said Jamnagar District Collector Sourabh Pardhi.