Home Hijack 2014 Ethiopian Airlines co-pilot hijacks plane to seek Geneva asylum
Ethiopian Airlines co-pilot hijacks plane to seek Geneva asylum
Team PSI 2/17/2014 0

Airline - Ethiopian Airlines
Aircraft - Boeing 767-300
Registration - ET-AMF
Flight - ET702
The co-pilot of an Ethiopian Airlines plane flying from Addis Ababa to Rome has hijacked the aircraft and landed in Geneva, Swiss police say.
The hijacker - who has been arrested - waited for the pilot to go to the toilet to lock himself in the cockpit. He was unarmed. He has requested asylum in Switzerland.
The airline said in a statement that all 202 passengers and crew were safe.
Geneva airport, which was closed for a time, has now reopened.
An Ethiopian man born in 1983, the co-pilot has sought asylum due to fear of persecution in Ethiopia, police said at a news conference.
After locking himself in the cockpit, he asked to refuel at Geneva, landed the plane, climbed down from the cockpit window using a rope (available in the cockpit), and gave himself up to police.
The situation inside the plane remained calm throughout.
The co-pilot himself alerted the authorities to the plane's hijacking, officials added - and passengers on the plane were unaware it had been hijacked.
The only possible offence the co-pilot could be charged with is that of hostage-taking, for which he could face up to 20 years of imprisonment, a Geneva prosecutor said at the news conference.
Flight 702 was scheduled to leave the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, at 00:30 local time (21:30 GMT), and arrive in Rome at 04:40 local time.
The Boeing 767-300 made an unscheduled landing in the Swiss city at 06:00.

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Photo by - Mr.Uday Krishna while @Dubai |
News Source : BBC