Air France Flight Hijacked

An Air France plane carrying 75 passengers was forced to detour over Paris Tuesday by a man on board who threatened to blow it up, officials said.

The plane, on a flight from Marseille in southern France, had been due to land at Orly airport south of the capital. But the passenger insisted it head to Charles de Gaulle airport, north of Paris, where the aircraft landed safely.

Most passengers were released, but Interior Minister officials said 11 people - six passengers and five crew members - were held on the aircraft, which had landed on one of the airport's outer runways and remained there.

Officials said they were negotiating with the hijacker, who they said claimed to have an explosive device.

The airline said the man, who was not identified but spoke Italian, was demanding to hold a news conference.

"I saw him at the front of the plane," one of the released passengers, Jean-Yves Lehuede, told French television. "He was arguing with the flight attendants."

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