Geneva

Tag Archives for Geneva.

Ethiopian Pilot Named Hailemedhin Abera Tegegn

The co pilot and hijacker of his own plane has been identified as Hailemedhin Abera Tegegn, 31 years of age. He is an Ethiopian National who gave up a career as an architect to become a pilot. He has worked for Ethiopian Airlines for five years. He is an orthodox Christian. His parents are alive and he has seven brothers and sisters. He has a girlfriend who runs her own cafe. Why he did it remains a mystery. Hailemedhin said he was requesting asylum in Geneva for fear of persecution in his native country. The Ethiopian…

Continue Reading »

ET 702 Co-pilot Arrested [updated]

In many books and films, the “villain” is the most obvious character. It seems in today’s Ethiopian Airlines hijacking emergency, the perpetrator was the plane’s co pilot. Just after 9am CET on 17 Feb (8am GMT, 3am US EST), Reuters reported that the co-pilot of the hijacked Ethiopian Airlines 767 that was forced to land at Geneva Airport just after 6am CET, surrendered to police and asked for asylum in Switzerland. Police said the co-pilot was not armed. They said he felt threatened in his country. The co-pilot hijacked the 767 after the pilot went…

Continue Reading »

Ethiopian Passengers leave plane & are searched

Passengers from the hijacked Ethiopian Airlines flight 702 which landed in Geneva, have disembarked the plane which has been parked at the end of runway 05, away from the airport’s terminal building. They were searched by the police as they disembarked the aircraft. The passengers then boarded buses near the plane. There were approximately 200 passengers on the hijacked flight. Swiss police continue to advise that there was a single hijacker who has been arrested. There are still no further details on motive and hijacker identity despite earlier rumours. There will be a Press Conference…

Continue Reading »

Ethiopian Hijacker arrested- Airport closed-All safe

Ethiopian Airlines are reporting all passengers and crew are safe at Geneva Airport.  Associated Press announced that the hijacker of the plane  has been arrested. Police spokesman Jean-Philippe Brandt told The Associated Press that “the situation is under control” Geneva airport is fermé (closed) until 9 a.m local time (8am GMT, 3am US EST) according to the airport website. There will be a Press Conference at that time. Flights bound for Geneva have been cancelled or diverted as a result. The reason for the hijacking is unclear, although unconfirmed reports suggest that some of those on board the aircraft may have been…

Continue Reading »

Ethiopian Airlines Hijack? [updated]

Confession: I am less scared of crashing inside a plane than I am worried I may be a hijack victim. So my heart goes out to 200 passengers today. News sources are reporting that Ethiopian Airlines Flight 702, a Boeing 767-300 (registration: ET- AMF) was hijacked over Sudan. Social media posts suggested that the plane’s transponder began squawking”7500″. Flight 702 departed from Addis Ababa at 00:30 (local time) and had been scheduled to arrive in Rome (FCO) at 04:40 (local time). The flight was scheduled to fly on to Milan (MXP) but that segment has…

Continue Reading »