Star Alliance aircraft hijacked by Ethiopian co-pilot

The 201 passengers on board the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 plane had no idea they were landing in Geneva. Rumors on board spread about landing in Milan instead of Rome due to weather.

The 201 passengers on board the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 plane had no idea they were landing in Geneva. Rumors on board spread about landing in Milan instead of Rome due to weather.

In reality the co-pilot, a 31 year old Ethiopian national had locked himself into the cockpit and took control of the plane. He was able to take over the cockpit after the pilot went to the toilet.

No one on the plane was threatened, everyone was calm, there was no situation a passenger had any knowledge to be worried about.

In reality the struggle was between airline staff, air traffic controllers in Geneva, Switzerland and Swiss authorities seeing the situation unfold.

Ethiopian Airlines is a member of the Star Alliance. Ethiopia’s information minister Redwan Hussein said on Monday:

“I’m now making contact with the airline CEO as to what was wrong with the co-pilot. I want to find out if they know anything about him and his background,”

The hijacker pilot flew the plane to Geneva, where he planned to seek asylum because he felt threatened in his home country, Geneva cantonal police spokesman Eric Grandjean told a press conference at the airport.

The Boeing 767 plane landed at 6.02am after the co-pilot sought permission at 4am to land at the Geneva airport for refuelling, he said.

The hijacker contacted Geneva Airport and said “he had a problem with his plane and needed to land to fill the tank with kerosene and that he had technical problems with the engine,” Grandjean said.

The co-pilot then said he had hijacked the plane, Grandjean said, adding that Geneva airport had allowed him to land “for safety reasons”.

The plane was escorted there by two Eurofighter jets from the Italian air force after the plane was diverted from airspace over Italy, he said.

After the passenger plane touched down the pilot opened the cockpit window and let himself out with a rope, police said.

He was arrested without resistance by officers who surrounded the plane, along with elite soldiers, the Tribune de Genรจve newspaper reported.

The hijacker was unarmed and the plane’s passengers were never in danger.

A Geneva airport news conference was told that passengers on the hijacked plane were not even aware the aircraft was flying to Geneva.

Olivier Jornot, chief prosecutor for the canton of Geneva, told the press conference that the alleged hijacker faces a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

Hijacking, involving the taking of hostages, is regarded as one of the most serious crimes in Switzerland, he said.

Geneva airport was briefly closed for all traffic but has been reopened.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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