A Ukrainian passenger tried to hijack a plane to Sochi, Russia where the Olympics have just begun. Early on Friday it was announced that the man told passengers there was a bomb aboard an Istanbul-bound flight and tried to reroute it to the subtropic resort site of the Winter Olympics.

"A Pegasus Airlines plane flying from Kharkov to Sabiha Gokcen landed at Sabiha Gokcen safely after receiving a bomb threat while in the air," the Turkish civil aviation authority said in a statement.

The passenger reportedly drank alcohol and claimed there was a bomb on board the Pegasus Airlines aircraft and he had the detonator, then he tried to enter the locked cockpit.

"We are sure that he didn't enter the cockpit. We know that the aircraft was hijacked before it entered Turkish airspace," the Turkish Transport Ministry undersecretary said. "The man was made to believe the plane was heading to Sochi," he said.

The pilot sounded the alert and an F-16 Turkish military jet was sent out, forcing the plane to land in Istanbul. "People are still inside but the pilot called security and gave them a signal that they can enter the plane. There is a translator -- a Turkish man near the Ukrainian to calm him down," an airport official said. Photos on social media showed a man in a tracksuit being led off the plane.

The head of Turkey's top pilot union has said: "I received confirmation that everyone on board is okay and that the plane is fine. I know the pilot ... he is experienced and I am sure everything is fine." The Ukrainian Security Service said the passenger who tried to hijack the plane was severely intoxicated and that he has been pacified with no weapons or explosives found on him.

With over 100,000 police, security agents and army troops stationed in Sochi, Russia has pledged "the safest Olympics in history."