Tag: Hijacked

A Hijacked EgyptAir plane has now landed in Cyprus after a passenger claiming to be wearing a bomb belt seized control of the aircraft. The plane was on its way to Cairo from Alexandria in Egypt. The motive for the hijacking is currently unclear, but at this point it has not been confirmed to be related to any organized terrorist group. The man in control of the Hijacked EgyptAir plane has not been identified. The hijacker has reportedly requested that an envelope he was carrying be delivered to a woman who lives in Cyprus. There are also conflicting accounts of the number of passengers and crew that were aboard the airplane, but it is believed to be somewhere between 62 and 86 people. Around 56 passengers were later released from the Airbus A320 aircraft.

Hijacked EgyptAir plane still holding 7 people

Many hours after the plane arrived in Cyprus, three passengers and four crew members are reportedly still being held on the aircraft. Sky News Europe has stated that the flight departed at 8 o’clock in the morning from Alexandria, Egypt. About 30 minutes after takeoff, the hijacker managed to seize control of the plane. The hijacker then contacted the control tower in Lanarka, Cyprus, and requested permission to land. The Israeli military  scrambled several fighter jet aircraft to protect the nations airspace as a precautionary response.

This hijacking comes just five months after a Russian airplane crashed over the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, killing all 224 passengers on board the plane. The cause of that crash has been linked to a terrorist group that claims to have brought down the plane with an explosive device. This incident also comes just one week after terrorists struck the airport and a Metro station in Brussels, Belgium.

Update: The man who hijacked an EgyptAir flight from Alexandria to Cairo has released the remaining passengers and crew. He has left the aircraft and surrendered to police. He has been identified as Eldin Mustafa, and reportedly hijacked the plane to visit a woman in Cyrpus.

Image from www.egyptair.com