Before the attack on the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, hijacking a flight was quite simple. With a few rare exceptions, airlines did not take a decisive approach to security, leaving plenty of room for malicious people. What happened on November 23, 1996 on the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961hijacked by three men of Ethiopian nationality between Addis Ababa and Nairobi while it was carrying out a leg of the scheduled flight Bombay-Addis Ababa-Nairobi-Brazzaville-Lagos-Abidjan.
The Hijacking of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961
November 23, 1996, a day like any other. Ethiopian Airlines flight 961, a Boeing 767-260ER, connects Addis Ababa to the Ivory Coast, to Abidjan to be precise, with short stops in between in Nairobi, Brazzaville and Lagos. The captain is the forty-two-year-old Leul Abbota pilot with proven experience with over 11 thousand flight hours, while the first officer is Yonas MekuriaThe plane has enough fuel to complete the first leg of the flight, at the time of take-off there are 175 people on board: many tourists but also many Ethiopians.
As soon as Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 entered the airspace, three passengers – three young Ethiopians between the ages of 20 and 30 – sprang into action to hijack the plane. Two of them run up and down the corridor, followed by the third, silently. After taking the fire axe and the fire extinguisher, they enter the cockpit and attack the two pilots, threatening to blow up the plane: they are said to be armed with a bomb.
Captain Leul tries to confront the three men – identified in Alemayehu Bekeli Belayneh, Mathias Solomon Belay and Sultan Ali Hussein – also because he is not new to this situation: in his career he has already had to deal with two hijackings, both of which ended positively. But this time the request is very different from the classic ones: just out of prison, the three Ethiopians want to go to Australia and obtain political asylum there.
A bit at a loss, the three hijackers do not know that the fuel it is enough for just three hours of flight, while to get to Australia it takes much longer. Faced with the captain’s words, they believe they are being made fun of and address the other passengers directly, stating that they are ready to do to explode a bomb with the help of eight other alleged accomplices. An extremely delicate situation, with the lives of over 170 people at stake.
The weather is getting hot
The captain decides to ask for help and contacts air traffic control. The Addis Ababa tower hands over control to Nairobi. The staff talks to the hijackers and explains in every way that the plane still has two hours of autonomy and it is therefore impossible to reach Australia. Hence the request to land Ethiopian Airlines 961 in Mombasa, Kenya. Visibly excited, the three hijackers close the communications and decide to not wanting to negotiate with anyone.
Aware of the danger ahead, the captain tries a desperate move: disobeys orders of the three Ethiopians and instead of heading east, continues south. The reason is simple: the main African cities overlook the sea and a splashdown would be at least possible. However, the attempt fails: after a few minutes the hijackers notice and force him to head east, where the ocean awaits them. But Leul Abate does not give up and, thanks to a pocket atlas, identifies the possible escape route, that is, the Comoros Islands.
The situation is getting worse
In the midst of general terror, suddenly a panic starts in the cockpit. alarm: it is the signal that there are only 30 minutes of autonomy left. But every attempt to convince the hijackers to make a safe landing is in vain. Nothing changes even when the right engine of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 runs completely dry. The captain follows the standard procedure, starts the auxiliary power unit – a generator that produces additional electrical energy – and tries in every way to find an alternative solution.
When he is left alone in the cabin, he tries everything: he informs the passengers of the level of danger and asks them to react against the hijackers. Between language problems and panic, many passengers remain confused. Among those who try to reverse the course is the journalist Mohammed Amina well-known war photojournalist and accustomed to the most dangerous theaters in the world. The reporter tries to incite the others to overpower the three Ethiopians, with poor results: the pilot remains the only one to oppose.
The situation worsens when the other engine also stops due to fuel exhaustion. The captain manages to maintain partial control of the plane thanks to the reserve system but he knows that it is not enough to avoid the worst: the only hypothesis on the table is that of a emergency landinga very risky maneuver, especially if at high speed.
The landing
The tourists on the beach are left speechless and some manage to film the scene with a video camera. Water is coming in everywhere and due to the excitement many passengers are unable to understand the flight team’s instructions: many, in fact, inflate their life jackets before splashing down, remaining stuck against the walls of the cabin by the water that had entered. Tourists and residents rushed to the wreckage, even a team of French divers and doctors present in the area participated in the rescue.
The toll is tragic: 125 dead and 50 survivors. In addition to the three Ethiopians responsible for the tragedy, among the victims there is also Amin, who until the end tried to convince the hijackers to change their minds. The commander Leul and the first officer Yonas, however, manage to save themselves and will be rewarded for their actions. Despite what happened, they will continue to work as pilots for the Ethiopian airlines. Among the survivors there are also the four Italian passengers on board.
The investigations will clarify that the hijackers were only three and not eleven as hypothesized and did not belong to terrorist groups or political movements. No big news, however, on flight safety. At least until September 11, 2001.