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.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us