Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961
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 767-200ER, was hijacked en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi by three Ethiopians seeking asylum in Australia. The plane crash-landed in the Indian Ocean near Grande Comore, Comoros Islands, due to fuel exhaustion; 125 of the 175 passengers and crew on board, including the three hijackers, died. This is the first recorded instance of a partially successful ditching utilizing a wide-body aircraft.
ET-AIZ, the aircraft involved, pictured six months before the crash
Sequence showing the ditching of the aircraft; this was recorded by a South African tourist.
Aircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. Dating from the earliest of hijackings, most cases involve the pilot being forced to fly according to the hijacker's demands. There have also been incidents where the hijackers have overpowered the flight crew, made unauthorized entry into the cockpit and flown them into buildings – most notably in the September 11 attacks – and in several cases, planes have been hijacked by the official pilot or co-pilot; e.g., Ethiopian Airlines Flight 702.
The North Tower of the World Trade Center after being struck by a hijacked airplane
Warning posters in a Central African airport, 2012
United Airlines Flight 175 crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center complex in New York City during the September 11 attacks
Hijacking assault simulation by South African special forces