Incident Overview
On 3 October 2006, Turkish Airlines Flight 1476 (TK1476), a Boeing 737-4Y0 operating a scheduled service from Tirana, Albania, to Istanbul, Turkey, was hijacked while in Greek airspace. The hijacker, identified as Hakan Ekinci, demanded to fly to Rome, Italy, to speak with the Pope.
Interception and Landing
Greek and Italian Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon jets intercepted the aircraft and escorted it until it landed at Brindisi Airport in southern Italy. The plane touched down safely, and no passengers or crew were harmed.
Aftermath
Ekinci was taken into custody by Italian authorities and jailed while awaiting trial. Initially, the hijacking was linked to the upcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Turkey, but it was later determined that Ekinci was seeking to request political asylum from Italy. On 4 October 2006, a Turkish Airlines aircraft was dispatched to Brindisi to transport the remaining passengers to Istanbul.