Ethiopian Airlines Flight 702

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 702
ET-AMF, the aircraft involved in the incident
Hijacking
Date 17 February 2014
Summary Hijacked by co-pilot
Site Hijacked over Sudan, forced to land at Geneva
Aircraft
Aircraft type Boeing 767-3BGER
Operator Ethiopian Airlines
IATA flight No. ET702
ICAO flight No. ETH702
Call sign ETHIOPIAN 702
Registration ET-AMF[1]
Flight origin Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, Ethiopia
Stopover Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, Italy
Destination Malpensa Airport, Italy
Passengers 193[2]
Crew 9
Fatalities 0
Injuries 0
Survivors 202 (all)[3]

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 702 was a scheduled flight from Addis Ababa to Milan via Rome on 17 February 2014.[4] The aircraft, an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767-300ER, was hijacked by the unarmed co-pilot, Hailemedhin Abera Tegegn, en route from Addis Ababa to Rome, and landed at Geneva. All 202 passengers and crew were unharmed. Tegegn was arrested by the Swiss authorities, and after being convicted in absentia by an Ethiopian court, was granted asylum in Switzerland in May 2016.

Incident

Flight 702 was scheduled to depart from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at 00:30 EAT (UTC+3) on 17 February 2014.[5] The aircraft's transponder began to emit squawk 7500—the international code for an aircraft hijacking—while flying north over Sudan.[1] When the pilot exited the cockpit to use the restroom, the co-pilot locked the cockpit door and continued to fly the aircraft.[6] The flight was scheduled to arrive at Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy, at 04:40 CET (UTC+1), before continuing to Malpensa Airport in Milan, Italy.[5] Instead, the aircraft was flown to Geneva, Switzerland, where the co-pilot circled several times while communicating with air traffic control at Geneva International Airport while trying to negotiate political asylum for himself and an assurance that he would not be extradited to Ethiopia.[1][6][7][8]

At 06:02 CET (UTC+1), the airplane landed at Geneva International Airport with about 10 minutes of fuel and the flameout of one engine.[1][6] The co-pilot who had hijacked the aircraft, exited by scaling down a rope he threw out of the cockpit window and walked to police, where he identified himself as the hijacker and was arrested.[6]

The airport was briefly shut down during the incident; no passengers or crew were injured.[9]

The flight was escorted by Italian Eurofighter and French Mirage fighter jets while traversing their respective airspaces. The Swiss Air Force did not respond because the incident occurred outside normal office hours, which are 08:00–12:00 and 13:30–17:00; a Swiss Air Force spokesman stated: "Switzerland cannot intervene because its airbases are closed at night and on the weekend. It's a question of budget and staffing."[10][11] Switzerland relies on neighboring countries to police its airspace outside of regular business hours. The French air force has permission to escort suspicious flights into Swiss airspace, but does not have authority to shoot down an aircraft over Switzerland.[11]

Hijacker

The hijacker of Flight 702 was Hailemedhin Abera Tegegn, 31, who was the co-pilot of flight 702. After landing the aircraft, he exited the cockpit by scaling down a rope he threw out the cockpit window. He was arrested by Swiss authorities.[6][12]

In May 2014, the Swiss government declined a request by the Ethiopian government to extradite Tagegn to Ethiopia.[6] Swiss authorities initially said that Tagegn would face trial in Switzerland.[6] However, in November 2015, the Swiss public prosecutor determined that Tagegn (who had been detained in Switzerland ever since his arrest) would not be prosecuted after a panel of experts "unanimously decided that [Tagegn] was in a state of complete paranoia" during the hijacking and was incapable of rational thinking.[13] Tagegn was then set to appear before a Swiss federal court, which would order the pilot to undergo mental health treatment.[13]

In March 2015, the Ethiopian high court in Addis Ababa convicted Tegegn in absentia and sentenced him to 19 years and six months in jail.[14]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Hijacked Ethiopian plane probably flown to Switzerland for asylum". Focus Information Agency. 17 February 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  2. ↑ Lynch, Dennis. "VIDEO: Inside The Plane That Was Hijacked By Its Own Co-Pilot". Business Insider. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  3. ↑ "Swiss confirm Ethiopian plane hijack". 17 February 2014. Archived from the original on 17 February 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  4. ↑ "ET702 Flight, Ethiopian Airlines, Rome to Milan". www.flightr.net. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  5. 1 2 "Ethiopian Airlines flight ET-702 of 17 February 2014". 17 February 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Ethiopian Airline pilot gets 19 years for hijacking plane". Agence France-Presse. March 20, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Ethiopian Airlines hijack: Co-pilot took control of plane". BBC News. 17 February 2014. Archived from the original on 17 February 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  8. ↑ "Hijacker arrested after Ethiopian Airlines flight forced to land in Geneva". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  9. ↑ Larry Register, Co-pilot hijacks Ethiopian Airlines plane, flies to Geneva, seeks asylum, CNN (February 18, 2014).
  10. ↑ Emine Saner. "The Swiss air force: armed and dangerous, but only in office hours". The Guardian.
  11. 1 2 "Swiss Airforce Grounded During Hijacking Because It Was Outside Office Hours". Agence France-Presse. 17 February 2014.
  12. ↑ Swiss confirm Ethiopian plane hijack Archived 17 February 2014 at WebCite, BBC News, 17 February 2014 Last updated at 01:44 ET.
  13. 1 2 Caroline Bishop, 'Paranoid' hijack pilot faces no Swiss charges, The Local (November 13, 2015).
  14. ↑ "Ethiopian pilot who hijacked plane sentenced to 20 years in jail". Reuters. March 20, 2015.
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