Geneva

Pilot hijacks plane: An Ethiopian co-pilot hijacked the passenger jet he was flying from Addis Ababa to Milan and landed it in Geneva instead, saying he wanted political asylum in Switzerland. When the pilot on the Ethiopian Airlines flight went to the toilet, Hailemedhin Abera locked him out of the cockpit. Some of the 200 passengers realized what was happening when the pilot began banging on the cockpit door, but officials said others didn’t know of the hijacking until after the plane landed safely in Geneva, accompanied by French and Italian fighter jets. (The Swiss Air Force only flies during office hours.) Abera lowered himself to the tarmac on a rope from the cockpit window and surrendered to Swiss authorities. He will be charged with taking hostages and faces 20 years in prison; he is unlikely to get asylum.

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