Hijackers shot on Ethiopian Air

NEWS 24.COM ^ | 6/10 | Cobus Heyl - editor

[Minutemen]

Hijackers shot on Ethiopian Air

Addis Ababa - Two men, aged 20 and 22, who tried to hijack an internal Ethiopian Airlines flight were shot dead on Sunday by national security agents on board, Radio Ethiopia reported.

One of the plane's two stewards was slightly injured during the attempted hijacking, the official radio said quoting Ethiopian civil aviation security chief Bekretsion Habte.

The hijackers tried to seize a plane that had taken off from Bahir Dar in the northeast for Addis Ababa at 16:40 with 42 passengers on board. It finally completed its flight as scheduled, Habte said.

The men, identified as Tesfaouni Yeneabat (22) and Tewodros Mekonen (20), both from Bahir Dar, tried to seize the Fokker 50 half an hour into the flight and were shot dead by national security agents, Habte said.

"The attempted hijacking failed, one person was slightly injured - one of the two stewards," he told the radio.

"We do not know the two hijackers' motives," he added.

The pair, sitting in the centre of the aircraft, got up together after half an hour, and one headed for the pilots' cabin while the other moved toward the rear of the plane, shouting that they were hijacking it, Habte said.

They clashed with the stewards on the way. The security men then "took measures against the two men", he said.

National television showed the bodies on its evening newscast.

Passengers interviewed by state radio after the plane landed in Addis Ababa praised the response of the security agents.

"They wanted to take the lives of a lot of people. The agents' action was justified," said Ruth Berhanu, an Ethiopian resident in the United States who had just spent six weeks in Bahir Dar.

"I'm proud of the Ethiopian security," said another passenger, Abebaw Alemu, who agreed that the killing of the hijackers was appropriate. He also urged "great care during passenger searches before boarding".

In April 2001 an Ethiopian air force plane was hijacked after taking off from Bahir Dar to Khartoum, capital of neighbouring Sudan.

The five hijackers, who included two student officers, surrendered to Sudanese police and freed their 51 hostages.

Bahir Dar, 550km northeast of Addis Ababa, hosts an Ethiopian air force base and a university. - Sapa-AFP

[Michael Barnes]

What about non-commissioned?

[rface]

Fokker 50 aircraft

[drc43]

"In the Liberal mind, ANY force is excessive. "

Except, of course, against our own citizens. Waco keeps coming to mind.

[Minutemen]

Granted, Fokker 50 is no 747, but proof positive that hijackers aint bullet-proof!

[SkyPilot]

This is going to make ABC's Kookie Roberts MAD!

She doesn't think those airplane thingamjobies should be anywhere those gun-dohickeys that fire those nasty millimeters and make that Koboom! sound.

[Thinkin' Gal]

Ethiopian Air

Do they serve meals?

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

I try not to spend too much time in the liberal mind. I start wanting to hug people at random, cut the military budget, and redistribute my wealth on any basis but merit. Then I wake up from the nightmare and go to work.

[EggsAckley]

LOL!!

[duckbutt]

not only Waco, innocent babies - - violence against them is fine 'n dandy with liberals....

[Steve Van Doorn]

who is questioning it? I do wonder why two security people were on board?

[TC Rider]

I didn't see anything in the article about how many passengers were sucked out of the plane after the shots were fired. < /sarcasm >

[RANGERAIRBORNE]

Everyone. please note that there was no "explosive decompression"- you can put a lot of 9 millimeter holes in a modern aircraft without risking very much. (Ask anyone who was in Vietnam or Laos, and saw aircraft coming back day after day FULL OF HOLES- even holes a LOT bigger than 9 mm!) I have seen fighter-bombers that looked like they had been attacked by aluminum-eating giant termites- still flying.

[MadelineZapeezda]

Ethiopian Air Do they serve meals?

Oh bad.....but funny!

[1Old Pro]

you can shoot hijackers on a plane and not bring down the plane.

Yep, shooting inside the plane may very well have prevented the loss of 50 lives.

[Shermy]

Story

Ethiopian site shows the result:

[Minutemen]

"I didn't see anything in the article about how many passengers were sucked out of the plane after the shots were fired. < /sarcasm >"
LOL!!

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

Well, you could probably fit two or three of them through a bullet-hole. < /sorry, should've known better>

[TC Rider]

No silly, their heads are too big.

(Have you been watching 'starvin' Marvin'?)

[VOA]

Hijackers shot on Ethiopian Air

If someone can confirm/deny this recollection of mine, please chime in.

I think I remember that at least one time when an Ethiopian airliner was hijacked
the security guards dealt with the hijackers without shooting them.
The security guards grabbed the b@stards and threw them out of the plane...which was
still in the middle of it's scheduled flight.

Myself, I would have asked the pilot to fly lower so I could see if (and how many times) they bounced.

[MrB]

National television showed the bodies on its evening newscast.

That's my favorite part. Show future wannabes that they will not only fail, but die without glory.