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Old Feb 17, 2014, 1:05 am
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Ethiopian Airlines flights forced to land in Geneva

Ethiopian Airlines flights forced to land in Geneva

GENEVA (AP) - Ethiopian Airlines says one of its planes destined for Rome has been "forced to proceed to Geneva."

The airline's website says the flight landed safely and "all passengers and crew are safe." It gives no further details.

Geneva police spokesman Jean-Philippe Brandt confirms that the plane made an unscheduled landing in the Swiss city at 6 a.m. Monday (0500 GMT).

He says authorities are checking the plane. He can't confirm reports that it had been hijacked.

Geneva airport spokesman Bertrand Staempfli says the airport has been temporarily closed and further details will be released at 9 a.m.

http://www.rgj.com/usatoday/article/5546399
Perhaps this was a typo, but it says Ethiopian Airlines flights forced to land in Geneva. Is it one flt or all flts?
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Old Feb 17, 2014, 1:43 am
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It was a typo by usa today. It was not flts. It was one flt.

http://news.yahoo.com/hijacked-ethio...064118803.html
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Old Feb 17, 2014, 2:13 am
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The plot thickens:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...ijacked-geneva

Looks like the co-pilot locked the pilot out of the cockpit while he was in the toilet, landed in Geneva, then escaped using a rope, through the cockpit window. He is now being held by Swiss authorities, and claiming asylum.

Most importantly, all passengers and crew are safe.
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Old Feb 17, 2014, 2:14 am
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The BBC is reporting that the hijacker was the co-pilot and he is now claiming asylum. He apparently locked the other pilot out of the cockpit, and then flew to his destination of choice.

Given that it was a flight to Rome, it'd be interesting to know why Switzerland is better for claiming asylum than Italy. Similarly, I guess he had a European (Schengen) visa, so could have just driven or caught a train to Switzerland from Rome.

Last edited by marble; Feb 17, 2014 at 2:22 am
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Old Feb 17, 2014, 3:09 am
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Originally Posted by marble
Given that it was a flight to Rome, it'd be interesting to know why Switzerland is better for claiming asylum than Italy. Similarly, I guess he had a European (Schengen) visa, so could have just driven or caught a train to Switzerland from Rome.
I suspect the Dublin Regulation may have an effect here (this is a guess, I'm no expert) - Switzerland would not process an asylum claim if he'd arrived from Italy.

I'm not sure why Switzerland is a better destination for an asylum claim. There may be very good reasons for this - I would have to assume so, given the effort the co-pilot went to to end up there.
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Old Feb 17, 2014, 3:13 am
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It does make you wonder why he wants to claim asylum, I doubt as a pilot he lives in a slum.
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Old Feb 17, 2014, 3:26 am
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Originally Posted by GodAtum
It does make you wonder why he wants to claim asylum, I doubt as a pilot he lives in a slum.
As defined by the UNHCR, a refugee is:

'owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country'
Impossible to know, at this stage, what his reasons are, but I would personally doubt it was financial.
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Old Feb 17, 2014, 4:17 am
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Originally Posted by stut
I'm not sure why Switzerland is a better destination for an asylum claim.
Because he doesn't want to spend the rest of his career working for Alitalia?
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Old Feb 17, 2014, 8:07 am
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