French police arrested a man in Lyon today after he tried to hijack an Alitalia flight carrying 57 passengers from Bologna to Paris, police and the airline said.
Italian news agency Ansa said the hijacker was believed to be an Italian.
The man was "apparently armed," a police spokesman said in the central French city. The man apparently made a threat during the flight, which was diverted to Lyon where it landed, the official added.
The Italian national carrier said in a statement that the MD-80 plane was carrying 57 passengers.
The plane was now on the tarmac at Lyon airport and all passengers and crew were now off the plane, the police spokesman said.
In 1991, an Alitalia DC-9 with 130 passengers and 7 crew was hijacked over Sardinia by an armed Tunisian who complained of being mistreated while an immigrant in Italy. All passengers and crew were freed safely in Tunis and the man was arrested.