Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 was a scheduled international flight serving the route Addis Ababa–Nairobi–Brazzaville–Lagos–Abidjan. On 23 November 1996, the aircraft serving the flight, a Boeing 767, was hijacked by three Ethiopians seeking asylum in Australia. The plane crash-landed in the Indian Ocean near Grande Comore, Comoros Islands, due to fuel exhaustion. Of those onboard, 125 of 175 died in the ditching (water landing), including all three hijackers and six of the 12 crew. The second occurred on 17 March 1995, flying a Boeing 737-260.<!--- The flight number is missing ---> Five hijackers demanded to be taken to Libya, and the airplane was diverted to El Obeid, Sudan. There the hijackers changed their mind and wanted to fly to Sweden instead. However, the Sudanese authorities refused to refuel the aircraft, and after several hours of standoff the hijackers surrendered. In both cases, the aircraft were undamaged and no one was injured or killed. was 20 minutes into the flight, three Ethiopian men charged the cockpit and hijacked the aircraft after taking an axe and a fire extinguisher from the cockpit.
The men threatened to blow up the plane in flight if the pilots did not obey their demands.|sign=|source=|title=
Instead of flying east towards Australia, the captain followed the African coastline southward. 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. During this time, two of the hijackers went into the cabin, with the lead hijacker (as stated in the report) staying in the cockpit.
Notable passengers
Among those killed was Mohamed Amin, a wartime photojournalist and publisher of Selamta, Ethiopian Airlines' in-flight magazine. He was believed to be standing near the entrance to the cockpit arguing or negotiating with the hijacker presumed to be guarding the cockpit during the final moments of the flight. Huddle said that he chose to fly on Ethiopian Airlines while planning a safari trip to Kenya because of the airline's reputation; it was one of the few airlines in Africa to have Federal Aviation Administration certification. Huddle wanted a flight during the day, reasoning that flying during the day was "safer".
CIA operative Leslianne Shedd was killed in the crash. A survivor saw her helping other passengers, including an elderly Ethiopian woman, put on their life vests. She was given a star on the CIA Memorial Wall.
Maps
<!--This is confirmed by p. 62 of 99 of the crash report-->
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Aftermath
A memorial service was held in Galawa on 30 November 1996.
- In 2009, it was featured in the episode "Death Be Not Stupid" of the TV series 1000 Ways to Die; episode 9 from season 1.
- It was also featured in a 2010 episode of the Biography Channel series I Survived..., in which a survivor told his story of what happened on the plane.
See also
- Air Canada Flight 143
- 1990 Guangzhou Baiyun airport collisions
- Tuninter Flight 1153, an ATR 72 ditched into the Mediterranean Sea after a fuel exhaustion
- US Airways Flight 1549
- Yemenia Flight 626
- Ethiopian Airlines accidents and incidents
- List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft
- List of airline flights that required gliding
References
Informational notes
Citations
External links
- Final Incident Report (Archive Alt archive) – Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority – Includes list of passengers, surviving and deceased
- "Milestones". (Archive) Time. 9 December 1996. – Announcement of deaths of Mohammed Amin and Brian Tetley
- "Rescuers continue search for victims of hijacked plane". (Archive) Associated Press at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. 1996.
- The Hijacking of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 (Criminal Acts Against Civil Aviation – 1996, FAA) (Archive Alt archive)