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Ethiopian Airlines flight 702 reportedly hijacked and landed in Geneva

Tigrai Onlne - February 17, 2014

Ethiopian Airlines flight 702 reportedly hijacked and landed in Geneva - Tigrai Online
Ethiopian Airlines flight 702 reportedly hijacked and landed in Geneva (Photo file)

An Ethiopian plane has landed at Geneva after apparently being hijacked over Africa. A spokeswoman for the Federal Office of Civil Aviation confirmed Geneva Airport had been closed. She said she was seeking more information.

Online flight watchers reported picking up a "Squawk 7500" hijack radio code coming from the Ethiopian Airlines flight about 3.30pm, Sydney time.

Flight ET702 from Addis Ababa to Milan landed in Geneva about 4.15pm.

The Boeing 767's bizarre flight pattern was plotted live online on flightradar24.com. The site showed the plane making multiple circles around the airport before finally landing

The airline posted the following statement on its website:

"Ethiopian Airlines flight 702 on scheduled service departing from Addis Ababa at 00:30 (local time) scheduled to arrive in Rome at 04:40 (local time) was forced to proceed to Geneva Airport. Accordingly, the flight has landed safely at Geneva Airport. All passengers and crew are safe at Geneva Airport. "Ethiopian Airlines is making immediate arrangements to fly its esteemed customers on-board the flight to their intended destinations."

Ethiopian Airlines is wholly owned by the Ethiopian government and is the fastest growing airline in Africa. In 2012 it became the first African airline to take delivery of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and has ordered 10 of the cutting-edge new aircraft.

Ethiopian Airlines was established in 1945 and now operates to 86 cities throughout Africa, Europe, Asia and North America.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald - http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-incidents/ethiopian-airlines-flight-et702-reportedly-hijacked-and-flown-to-geneva-20140217-32vy7.html


Here is an audio conversation between the co-pilot who hijacked the Ethiopian airline and the flight control on the ground.


Ethiopian government statement about the hijacking of Ethiopian airlines flight 702.

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