Ethiopian Co-Pilot Hijacks Plane, Request Asylum in Switzerland

Ethiopian co-pilot hijacks plane and requests asylum in Switzerland 

Ethiopian Pilot Hijacks Plane, Requests Asylum in Switzerland 

In yet another blow to the Ethiopian dictatorship, the co-pilot of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET-702 was arrested for hijacking the flight, which was on its way from Addis Ababa to Rome, Reuters reported. The 30-year-old Ethiopian pilot, who sought asylum due to fear of persecution in Ethiopia, reportedly took control of the plane when its captain went to the rest room, the report added, citing Swiss police spokesman Jean-Philippe Brandt.

The co-pilot then locked himself in the cockpit and diverted the plane to Geneva International Airport where he asked to refuel. He then landed the plane, climbed down from the cockpit window on a rope, and gave himself up to authorities, the report said. All 202 passengers and crew of the Boeing 767-300 were evacuated unharmed.

The incident led to the closure of the airport and the diversion of several planes. The airport was reopened later on Monday.

Ethiopian nationals seeking political asylum have been involved in several hijackings in the past. In 1993, an Ethiopian used a gun hidden in his hat to hijack a German passenger jet bound for New York. He was later sentenced to 20 years in a US prison. Two years later, police in Greece overpowered an Ethiopian hijacker who held a knife to the throat of an Olympic Airways stewardess and demanded political asylum. At least 50 people were killed when a hijacked Ethiopian Airlines passenger jet crashed in the Indian Ocean in 1996. In 2001, a dozen Ethiopian students hijacked a plane carrying around 60 people and flew to Sudan.

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