Geneva – There was drama as the co-pilot of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 plane hijacked his own aircraft and made threats to crash it and forced a landing in Geneva on Monday.
The hijacker was identified as 31-year-old Hailemedehin Abera Tagegn an employee with the airline for five years.
The purpose was so he could seek asylum in Switzerland.
police evacuating passengers
The Ethiopian co pilot locked himself in the cockpit when the captain went to the bathroom during flight ET-702 from Addis Ababa, which had been due to fly to Rome.
An arrested was made in Geneva after scaling down a rope out of the cockpit window and prosecutors said the chances of his demands being met were slim.
“We thought the co-pilot had gone mad,” Francesco Cuomo, a 25-year-old development economist who was on board, was quoted by Italian media as saying.
“The captain was threatening to open the cockpit door and tried to break it down without success. That’s when we understood that something serious was going on.
“When we started circling over Geneva, there were moments of pure fear,” he said.
On landing in Rome passenger, Diego Gardelli said: “At one point a stewardess told us ‘Are you Christian? Then pray to God. That’s what I’m doing’.”
Passengers on the flight did not realise what was taking place until the pilot explained the situation on landing.
“We thought we were going to plunge into the sea,” he said, adding that passengers were also told to wear oxygen masks for half an hour during the flight.
“We feared the worst,” said Elda, a 75-year-old passenger, adding that passengers were frisked one by one after coming off the plane “because they thought there could be accomplices”.
– ‘Do not move!’ –
According to Italian media an audio recording of a voice said to be the captain was heard trying to reassure passengers once they were on the ground.
“The pilot is still locked inside the cockpit but he is not armed,” the man is heard saying.
“He threatened to crash the plane. I don’t know his motives and I’m not interested. All I’m interested in is the fact that you’re safe,” he said.
A smartphone video showed passengers with their hands behind their heads as a police announcement was heard over the loudspeakers repeating: “This is a police operation. Do not move!”
A total of 200 passengers and crew were on board when the drama took place.
Geneva airport head of operations, Xavier Wohlschlagsaid the hijacker’s request to land was initially denied but on being given the green light at 5:30 am (0430 GMT), the plane, which was first escorted by Italian fighter jets and later reportedly by French ones, circled the region.
The hi-jacker was said to have parked the plane on the taxiway, cut the engines then opened the cockpit window, threw out a rope and used it to descend to the tarmac.
He then ran to the police and identified himself as the co-pilot and hijacker.
The man faces a 20-year prison sentence.
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