Ethiopian Airlines hijacker Hailemedehin Abera Tagegn ‘threatened to crash plane’

 

LOCKING the pilot out of the cockpit, an Ethiopian Airlines co-pilot hijacked a plane bound for Italy and diverted it to Geneva, where he asked for asylum, officials said. 

 
One passenger said the hijacker threatened to crash the plane if the pilot didn’t stop pounding on the locked door. Another said passengers were terrified “for hours” as the plane careened across the sky.

The Boeing 767-300 took off from the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on an overnight flight to Milan and Rome, but an Ethiopian official said it sent a distress message over Sudan that it had been hijacked. Once the plane was over Europe, two Italian fighter jets and later French jets were scrambled to accompany it.

SWISS AIRFORCE ‘NOT AVAILABLE OUTSIDE BUSINESS HOURS’
The plane, which was supposed to go to Milan first, landed in Geneva at about 6am local time. Officials said no one on the flight was injured and the hijacker was taken into custody after surrendering to Swiss police.