EgyptAir flight hijacked by terrorist with explosives
Date
3/29/2016 7:10:16 AM
An EgyptAir domestic flight from Alexandria to Cairo was hijacked and landed in Cyprus according to Egypt's civil aviation authority. A statement from the Egyptian aviation authority said the MS181 is an Airbus and that it had 55 passengers onboard apart from five crew members. Latest tweet updates on the hijacking said that a majority of the passengers have been released while a few foreigners and the crew members are held captive.Egypt’s civil aviation ministry said that the pilot of the plane was threatened by a passenger strapped with explosives: pilot Omar al-Gammal had informed the authorities that he was threatened by a passenger who had a suicide belt and forced him to land in Larnaca.
The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation reported that 55 passengers were onboard and a crew of seven. The hijacking occurred in Cyprus’s flight information region and the airliner was diverted to Larnaca. The hijacker asked the police to stay away from the aircraft. Israel scrambled warplanes in its airspace in response to the plane hijacking according to an Israeli military source. The plane was an Airbus 320 the aviation ministry said.
The hijackers contacted the control tower at 8:30 am (0530 GMT) and the plane was given permission to land at 8:50 am the police said.
Except for four foreigners and crew members all others travelling on the hijacked Egyptian plane have been released at a Cyprus airport after negotiations with at least one hijacker Egypt Air claimed.Meanwhile the Egyptian media identified one hijacker of the plane as Ibrahim Samaha.
20 passengers reportedly released from #EgyptAir flight one reported hijacker no confirmation on explosives https://t.co/dmSYSh73xX
Sky News (SkyNews) March 29 2016
LATEST: #EgyptAir hijacking isn’t linked to terrorism Cyprus President Anastasiades says https://t.co/7CwY8mjnIR pic.twitter.com/rQKz0x2i7l
Bloomberg Business (business) March 29 2016
Update: EgyptAir says all but four foreigners and the crew were released from a hijacked jet https://t.co/mgfHLLehrN pic.twitter.com/KnSm9zoeBA
The New York Times (nytimes) March 29 2016
[Live] The hijacker of an #EgyptAir plane is an Egyptian national called Ibrahim Samaha https://t.co/tu3GTdU4B9 https://t.co/Ns3qUiW162
euronews (euronews) March 29 2016
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