

Flight ET702 hijacked – live Twitter feed - lars512
https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ET702

======
rdl
At least it wasn't an ET961 situation this time.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Airlines_Flight_961](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Airlines_Flight_961)

(Hijackers were too dumb to understand fuel loading policies; aircraft ended
up ditching into the Indian Ocean. Amazingly, 50 pax survived.)

~~~
corin_
Actually it sounds like today's hijackers were indeed that dumb, they just
managed to be circling over an airport by the time they ran out of fuel. (Or
perhaps that wasn't a surprise to them and they knew they'd be safe over
Geneva?)

~~~
rdl
I still can't imagine anyone obeying hijackers anymore. If someone got up on a
plane and said he had a bomb, I'd be running toward him to knock him down and
incapacitate (ideally, by killing) before he'd even stopped with his
announcement. I'm pretty sure on most US airlines I'd be blocked by a bunch of
other passengers doing the same thing.

9/11 really screwed things for hijackers.

(EDIT: appears it was the co-pilot, and the reinforced door installed after
9/11 actually allowed him to keep the real pilot out! So at least it wasn't an
EgyptAir 990 situation either...)

~~~
corin_
That's certainly the common thought (that it would be impossible), but does it
hold up in practice?

Let's say a repeat of 9/11 happened, then judging by expected outcomes it
would definitely be better to all rush the hijackers, even if half the plane
died in subduing them it would be better than everyone dying (and more on the
ground) if you let them do what they want.

Today's example on the other hand, the best case scenario is what ended up
happening (the hijacker/s don't have the goal of killing people, so there's a
reasonable chance that everyone can survive), therefore is it worth taking the
risk to stop them? In this situation, even one person dying while preventing
them from taking control of the plane can actually be a worse outcome than
leaving them to their negotiations.

In terms of mathematical outcomes it's hard to say which course of action
would be better: firstly because you couldn't give accurate probabilities, and
secondly because the expected outcome might not match the best bet. For
example, if preventing hijackers gives a 95% chance that at least one person
dies, and leaving them to it gives a 1% chance that 50 people die, then played
out over 1000s of times you're actually better not doing anything, but over a
single time is it worth taking that risk?

And then past that, even if these numbers were easy to analyse, how will
people on board react when a.) emotions are running high and b.) rather than
typing at my desk at work, I'm confronted with the situation that _I 'm_ the
one risking my life to stop them. Even if I knew the odds meant they really
needed to be stopped, I'm not sure I'd have the balls to run at men with
weapons.

~~~
rdl
It's entirely possible it's not the right course of action, but it's reflex.
Now that it's known terrorists view aircraft as weapons, even taking control
of the aircraft is a deadly threat.

The weapons usually used to control an aircraft are the threat of bombs. A
fake bomb is just as effective as a real bomb, and vastly easier to bring
onboard, so it seems rational to presume any bomb threat is fake. To a first
approximation, hijacker in a plane aisle is a problem of running at him and
tackling, which is about the easiest possible thing to do.

------
lelf
Plot twist: it was co-pilot. Source: press conference

 _Edit_ : video here [http://www.20min.ch/schweiz/romandie/story/Das-Flugzeug-
wurd...](http://www.20min.ch/schweiz/romandie/story/Das-Flugzeug-wurde-vom-
Kopilot-entfuehrt-22505714)

Can someone translate? (French). _Edit’_ : scratch that. (There was a press
conference recording (yes, in French))

~~~
jmathai
I don't speak French but... [http://www.20min.ch/schweiz/romandie/story/Das-
Flugzeug-wurd...](http://www.20min.ch/schweiz/romandie/story/Das-Flugzeug-
wurde-vom-Kopilot-entfuehrt-22505714)

Edit: confused if this article was requested to be translated to or from
French. Mobile browsing sucks. Here is English.
[http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&n...](http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&nv=1&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.20min.ch/schweiz/romandie/story/Das-
Flugzeug-wurde-vom-Kopilot-
entfuehrt-22505714%3Fredirect%3Dmobi%26nocache%3D0.3424269447568804&usg=ALkJrhgVWxhJpUsfS_A1sODXTjkrzV02Fg)

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emmapersky
Airline has confirmed hijacking. passengers and crew safe

[http://www.ethiopianairlines.com/en/news/default.aspx](http://www.ethiopianairlines.com/en/news/default.aspx)

~~~
ivan_ah
Okay, show's over. Everyone came out save and sound.

via [http://www.rts.ch/info/suisse/5619177-aeroport-de-
cointrin-f...](http://www.rts.ch/info/suisse/5619177-aeroport-de-cointrin-
ferme-apres-un-detournement-d-avion-a-geneve.html)

------
lars512
Details are sketchy. It's believed to be hijacked. Having circled Geneva for
some time, it's landed. The airport seems to be closed.

The air traffic control live stream:

[http://www.liveatc.net/search/?icao=gva](http://www.liveatc.net/search/?icao=gva)

Anyone with any actual non-speculation, feel free to post.

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koala_advert
Apparently the hijacker(s) wanted political asylum in Switzerland:

[http://www.jaunted.com/story/2014/2/17/02325/1000/travel/BRE...](http://www.jaunted.com/story/2014/2/17/02325/1000/travel/BREAKING%3A+Ethiopian+Plane+Hijacked%2C+Flown+to+Switzerland+for+Asylum)

~~~
einhverfr
Probably not the best way to get political asylum.

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lars512
Collating some information in this globally editable Google Doc
[https://docs.google.com/a/yencken.org/document/d/1uxcXrdPVau...](https://docs.google.com/a/yencken.org/document/d/1uxcXrdPVauIJqeDnhzgppzIduiOYu5ZilvS7bYnh5lg/edit#)

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wila
Hijacker has been arrested according to this:

[http://jpupdates.com/2014/02/17/breaking-hijacked-
ethiopian-...](http://jpupdates.com/2014/02/17/breaking-hijacked-ethiopian-
airline-landed-in-geneva-airport/)

------
jmathai
@cnnbrk reported this an hour after it happened [1]. I turned CNN on the
television and they were showing an Anthony Bourdain show. Google News showed
only 5 results.

Meanwhile, Twitter was streaming with links to flight maps and other updates.

I realize news media might have to do more due diligence before reporting but
from the face of it they seemed completely unaware.

[1]
[https://twitter.com/cnnbrk/status/435294208824328192](https://twitter.com/cnnbrk/status/435294208824328192)

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jessevdk
I happened to be at the airport when it happened (still am). We got to hear
that the airport closed due to "Operational problems". Plenty vague, but the
internets prevails.

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NN88
Its a hijacking: Live reddit thread with updates from /r/Aviation

[http://np.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1y46mi/possible_hij...](http://np.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1y46mi/possible_hijacking_in_progress_eth_702_squawking/)

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cyann
Local newspaper with details [French]: [http://www.tdg.ch/geneve/actu-
genevoise/Un-pirate-de-l-air-d...](http://www.tdg.ch/geneve/actu-genevoise/Un-
pirate-de-l-air-detourne-un-avion-vers-laeroport-de-Geneve/story/27179086)

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emmapersky
Hijacking confirmed:

[http://www.ethiopianairlines.com/en/news/default.aspx](http://www.ethiopianairlines.com/en/news/default.aspx)

all pax and crew safe.

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adenot
It's going in circle atm:
[http://www.flightradar24.com/ETH702/2ba40ab](http://www.flightradar24.com/ETH702/2ba40ab)

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eots
How is his hacker news?

