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Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961
Sequence showing the ditching of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 |
| Hijacking summary |
| Date |
23 November 1996 |
| Type |
Fuel starvation due to hijacking |
| Site |
Kenyan airspace |
| Passengers |
163 |
| Crew |
12 |
| Injuries |
50 |
| Fatalities |
125 (Including 3 hijackers) |
| Survivors |
50 |
| Aircraft type |
Boeing 767-260ER |
| Operator |
Ethiopian Airlines |
| Tail number |
ET-AIZ |
| Flight origin |
Sahar International Airport, Mumbai, India |
| 1st stopover |
Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
| 2nd stopover |
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, Kenya |
| 3rd stopover |
Maya-Maya Airport, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo |
| Last stopover |
Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, Nigeria |
| Destination |
Port Bouet Airport, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire |
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 was hijacked on 23 November 1996 en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi on a Bombay - Addis Ababa - Nairobi - Brazzaville - Lagos - Abidjan route, by three Ethiopians seeking political asylum in Australia. The plane crash-landed in the Indian Ocean near Comoros after running out of fuel, killing 125 of the 175 passengers and crew on board.
Hijack
When ET-AIZ, the Boeing 767-260ER (nicknamed "Zulu" by Ethiopian Airlines pilots),[1] entered Kenyan airspace, three Ethiopian men charged the cockpit and hijacked the airplane after grabbing an axe and a fire hydrant from the cockpit. According to a special report by Airdisaster.com,[2] "One of the men ran down the aisle toward the cockpit shouting statements that could not be understood, and his two accomplices followed soon after." The report described the men as "young (mid-twenties), inexperienced, psychologically fragile, and intoxicated."[2] Ethiopian state-operated radio later identified the hijackers as two unemployed high school graduates and a nurse, named Alemayehu Bekeli Belayneh (አለማየሁ በቀለ በላይነህ), Mathias Solomon Belay (ማቲያስ ሰለሞን በላይ), and Sultan Ali Hussein (ሱልጣን አሊ ሁሴን) (they did not say who had which description).[3]
The men threatened to blow the plane out of the sky if the pilot, Leul Abate (ልዑል አባተ), and the co-pilot, Yonas Mekuria (ዮናስ መኩሪያ), did not follow their demands, announcing over the intercom that they were opponents of the Ethiopian government seeking political asylum, having recently been released from prison. The hijackers said that there were eleven of them when, in fact, there were only three. Authorities later determined that the bomb was actually a covered bottle of liquor.[4]
The hijackers demanded the plane be flown to Australia: the in-flight magazine stated the 767 could make the trip on a full tank and the plane had been refuelled at its last stopover. Leul tried to explain they had only taken on the fuel needed for the scheduled flight and thus could not even make a quarter of the journey, but the hijackers did not believe him.[4]
Instead of flying towards Australia, the captain followed the African coastline. The hijackers noticed that land was still visible and forced the pilot to steer east. Leul secretly headed for the Comoro Islands, which lie midway between Madagascar and the African mainland.[4]
Crash landing
The plane was nearly out of fuel as it approached the island group, but the hijackers continued to ignore the captain's warnings. Out of options, Leul began to circle the area, hoping to land the plane at Comoros's main airport. When the plane ran out of fuel, both engines failed. The crew used a ram air turbine to preserve the aircraft's most essential functions, but in this mode some hydraulic systems—such as the flaps—were inoperative. This forced Leul to land at more than 175 knots (about 320 kilometers per hour or 200 miles per hour).[4]
Leul tried to make an emergency landing on the airport at Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport, Grande Comore, but a fight with the hijackers at the last minute caused him to lose his visual point of reference, leaving him unable to locate the airport. While still fighting with the hijackers, he tried to ditch the aircraft in shallow waters 500 metres off Le Galawa Beach Hotel near Mitsamiouli at the northern end of Grand Comoro island. Leul tried to land parallel with the waves instead of against the waves in an effort to smooth the landing. ET-AIZ's left engine and wingtip struck the water first. The engine acted as a scoop and struck a coral reef, slowing that side of the aircraft quickly, causing the Boeing 767 to violently spin left and break apart. Island residents and tourists, including a group of scuba divers and some French doctors on vacation, came to the aid of crash survivors.[4][5]
A tourist recorded a video of ET-AIZ crashing; she said that she began taping because she initially believed that the 767 aircraft formed a part of an air show for tourists.[6]
Fate of the passengers and crew
The passengers originated from the following countries:[7]
Of the passengers, 42 boarded in Mumbai, including:[8]
- 3 Americans
- 19 Indians
- 9 Nigerians
- 9 Sri Lankans
The rest of the passengers boarded in Addis Ababa.
123 of the 175 passengers and crew members were killed, as well as all three hijackers. Many of the passengers who died survived the initial crash, but they had disregarded or did not hear Leul's warning not to inflate their life jackets inside the aircraft, causing them to be pushed against the ceiling of the fuselage by the inflated life jackets when water flooded in. Unable to escape, they drowned. An estimated 60 to 80 passengers, strapped to their seats, presumably drowned.[14]
Leul and Yonas survived. For his actions, Leul was awarded the Flight Safety Foundation Professionalism Award in Flight Safety.[15]
Notable passengers
Among those killed was Mohamed Amin, a famous wartime photojournalist and publisher of Selamta, Ethiopian Airlines' in-flight magazine.[16] He was believed to be standing near the entrance to the cockpit arguing with the hijacker presumed to be guarding the cockpit during the final moments of the flight — Brian Tetley, Amin's colleague, also died.[17]
Franklin Huddle, the U.S. Consul General of Bombay at the time, and his wife Chanya "Pom" survived the crash.[12] Huddle said that he chose to fly on Ethiopian Airlines while planning a safari trip to Kenya because of Ethiopian Airlines's reputation; Huddle said in an interview that the airline was one of two airlines in Africa to have Federal Aviation Administration certification. Huddle wanted a flight during the day, reasoning that flying during the day is "safer."[4] Huddle credits his and Chanya Huddle's survival to a last-minute upgrade to business class.[18]
Other passengers on the aircraft included Antal Annus, the Hungarian ambassador to Kenya,[7] who died, and a French foreign ministry official.[19]
Aftermath
This has become a well-known hijacking because of the videotape.[6] The video later served as an important tool in studies of aviation crashes and procedures.[citation needed]
This was one of very few large airliner water landings. Both the captain and co-pilot of the flight received aviation awards, and both continued to fly for Ethiopian Airlines.[4]
In the media
The crash was featured in an episode of Mayday (Air Emergency, Air Crash Investigation).
See also
References
- ^ Mayday series, season 3, episode 13, interview with pilot Leul Abate
- ^ a b "Special Report: Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961". Airdisaster.com. 1996-11-23. http://www.airdisaster.com/special/ethiopian961.shtml. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
- ^ "Government Names Ethiopian Airlines Hijackers". Minnesota Daily (World & Nation digest). 1996-12-05. http://www.mndaily.com/articles/1996/12/05/807. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
- ^ a b c d e f g "African Hijack"/"Ocean Landing," Mayday
- ^ Lendon, Brad. "Previous jet ditchings yielded survival lessons." CNN. Retrieved on 16 January 2009.
- ^ a b "Honeymooners capture dramatic images of Ethiopian jet crash," CNN
- ^ a b Cohen, Tom. I was sinking fast . . . I had to get out." Associated Press via The Independent. November 25, 1996. Retrieved on December 29, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g McNeil Jr., Donald (November 25, 1996). Terror in the Air, and Frantic Rescue From the Sea. The New York Times.
- ^ "Hijacked Ethiopian Jet Crashes with 19 Indians Aboard." India Abroad. November 29, 1996. Retrieved on January 29, 2010.
- ^ Plane Is Hijacked; Crashes In Ocean Off East Africa. The New York Times. November 24, 1996. Page 11, New York Edition. Retrieved on January 29, 2010.
- ^ "Ethiopia mourns crash victims," CNN. November 25, 1996. Retrieved on November 24, 2009.
- ^ a b c "`I Thought I Had Finished My Life' -- Tale Depicts Drunken Abductors Who Fought With Pilot -- Survivors Tell Of Terror As Jetliner Tumbles Across Ocean's Surface." Washington Post via Associated Press and The Seattle Times. November 25, 1996. Retrieved on January 29, 2010.
- ^ "British woman swam from hijack plane," The Independent
- ^ Ethiopian airline crash kills at least 50. CNN. November 23, 1996.
- ^ "Flight Safety Foundation Award in Flight Professionalism". Flight Safety Foundation. http://www.flightsafety.org/aviation-awards/fsf-professionalism-award-flight-safety. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
- ^ Episode Seven, Mo & Me
- ^ "Mohamed Amin, 53, Camera Eye During the Famine in Ethiopia," The New York Times. November 26, 1996.
- ^ "No Resting Place," Brown University Alumni Magazine
- ^ "Bizarre ordeal recounted in Ethiopian Airlines crash." CNN. November 24, 1996. Retrieved on December 29, 2008.
External links
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