Egyptian airliner hijacked to Cyprus

[Burning Petard]

An Egyptian plane with Egyptian crew scheduled for Alexandria to Cairo was diverted to Cyprus. Passenger on board stated they had a suicide vest and demanded they go to Cyprus and the pilot complied. The plane landed in Cyprus with no damage to plane; all passengers and crew left the plane unharmed.
The passenger who made the threat was arrested and is now a prisoner in Cyprus.

BUT! Suicide vests are not simple. The pilot could have said "no way a passenger can get on my plane with such a device. Egypt has security to prevent just such activities and much more complex bomb threats. I know it is a bluff. Welcome to the kind care of Egyptian security cops when we land in Cairo."

But he did not. Clearly he had NO confidence in his own employer/national security airport security. There fore, why should any ordinary passenger?

This series of questions was asked by BBC radio news.

snailgate

[Lord Jim]

He's Not A Terrorist, He's An Idiot, Says Egypt Foreign Ministry: Reports

An official at the foreign ministry in Egypt is understood to have retorted that the man who hijacked a passenger plane with about 60 people on board was "an idiot, not a terrorist". The hijacker, said to be distressed over a family matter, wanted to contact his ex-wife in Cyprus, where he forced the plane to land and allowed most of the passengers to disembark.

"It is not something which has to do with terrorism," Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades told reporters. Asked if a woman was involved he said "There is always a woman involved."

The Guardian reported that an official at Egypt’s ministry of foreign affairs said the hijacker's motive was personal. "He’s not a terrorist, he’s an idiot. Terrorists are crazy but they aren’t stupid. This guy is,” the official said.

The EgyptAir plane on a flight between Alexandria and Cairo was hijacked and forced to land at Larnaca airport in Cyprus. The hijacker released all the people onboard except four foreign passengers and the crew following negotiations, EgyptAir said.

About 60 people, including seven crew, had been onboard the Airbus 320, Egyptian and Cypriot officials said. The pilot reported that the man was strapped with explosives, although this was not confirmed.

Citing security sources, Cypriot state media said that the motives of the hijacker appeared personal and he had asked to contact his ex-wife, who lives in Cyprus. Egyptian state media named him as Ibrahim Samaha, an Egyptian, but gave no other details about him.

More:

http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2016/03/29 ... 61664.html

The pilot could have said "no way a passenger can get on my plane with such a device. Egypt has security to prevent just such activities and much more complex bomb threats. I know it is a bluff. Welcome to the kind care of Egyptian security cops when we land in Cairo."

But he did not. Clearly he had NO confidence in his own employer/national security airport security.

Well, given the horrendous record that the TSA has when it comes to detecting weapons in tests that have been run, if I'm on a plane even on a domestic US flight, and there's a guy claiming to have a bomb or a suicide belt, I certainly want the pilot to take it seriously...

[Sue U]

The pilot could have said "no way a passenger can get on my plane with such a device. Egypt has security to prevent just such activities and much more complex bomb threats. I know it is a bluff. Welcome to the kind care of Egyptian security cops when we land in Cairo."

But he did not. Clearly he had NO confidence in his own employer/national security airport security.

Well, given the horrendous record that the TSA has when it comes to detecting weapons in tests that have been run, if I'm on a plane even on a domestic US flight, and there's a guy claiming to have a bomb or a suicide belt, I certainly want the pilot to take it seriously...

I agree; this is exactly the same policy used in bank robberies in the U.S. If the perp claims to have a weapon, give him the money. Although odds are there is no gun or bomb or whatever, it's better to not risk lives if you can avoid it and leave the follow-up to law enforcement authorities.

[Bicycle Bill]

The pilot could have said "no way a passenger can get on my plane with such a device. Egypt has security to prevent just such activities and much more complex bomb threats. I know it is a bluff. Welcome to the kind care of Egyptian security cops when we land in Cairo."

But he did not. Clearly he had NO confidence in his own employer/national security airport security.

Well, given the horrendous record that the TSA has when it comes to detecting weapons in tests that have been run, if I'm on a plane even on a domestic US flight, and there's a guy claiming to have a bomb or a suicide belt, I certainly want the pilot to take it seriously...

I agree; this is exactly the same policy used in bank robberies in the U.S. If the perp claims to have a weapon, give him the money. Although odds are there is no gun or bomb or whatever, it's better to not risk lives if you can avoid it and leave the follow-up to law enforcement authorities.

I was thinking the same thing.  He could be bluffing.  But if you call his bluff and you're wrong and he wasn't bluffing, that is going to completely ruin the rest of the day for you and a helluvalot of other people.  I'd rather see the pilot in command take any threat seriously and respond appropriately.

Of course, that can still backfire.  Look at what happened to the four airliners involved in the 9/11 attacks.  'Normal' hijacking protocols were being followed.  It's just that it wasn't a 'normal' hijack but a mission to turn four jetliners with all aboard into kamikazes, and we with our western mindset couldn't even contemplate such a turn of events.  Now, of course, we know differently.

-"BB"-

[rubato]

"... Clearly he had NO confidence in his own employer/national security airport security. There fore, why should any ordinary passenger?

This series of questions was asked by BBC radio news.

snailgate

I'm sure this was the standard response he was trained to carry out.

Hypothesizing about this individual pilots personal mental state and beliefs is moot.


yrs,
rubato

[Gob]

A British man who was taken hostage on an EgyptAir flight posed for a cheeky photograph with the alleged hijacker who was wearing a fake suicide belt as the bizarre and troubling drama played out at an airport in Cyprus.

A grinning Ben Innes was shown in the image standing alongside the hijacker, named as Seif Eldin Mustafa, who had seized control of the Alexandria-to-Cairo flight and demanded it be diverted to Cyprus, where he hoped to be reunited with his estranged wife.

Mr Innes, 26, reportedly sent the image to his friend with the message: "You know your boy doesn't f*** about!! Turn on the news lad!!!"

His friend reportedly responded: "Wtf? Is that a bomb attached to the guys chest? You ok? Let us know when you get off," the Daily Mail reported.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/egyptair-ms ... z44KcmDS3q
Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook

[Lord Jim]

Of course, that can still backfire. Look at what happened to the four airliners involved in the 9/11 attacks. 'Normal' hijacking protocols were being followed. It's just that it wasn't a 'normal' hijack but a mission to turn four jetliners with all aboard into kamikazes

Well, that's the exception to the rule...

If the fellow claiming to have the suicide vest is ordering the pilot to crash the plane, then the choice has to be to have the flight crew (perhaps assisted by some muscular passengers) to take him down and risk the possibility that it may not be a fake...

But if he's demanding that the plane be diverted to some other location for landing, so long as there's sufficient fuel to get there, I say the right move is to head there to land the plane, and deal with it once the plane is on the ground...The Egyptian pilot made the right decision...

At this point, I can't think of any country on the planet (except maybe North Korea) not even the Iranians or the Russians, that would want to be directly associated with a hijacking like this, so even if he wanted the plane landed at the airport at Tehran or Moscow we could expect co-operation in ending the situation...

Even if he gave co-ordinates for some landing strip in Islamist held territory, agree to that too...

By the time they landed, there'd be 3000 US Special Forces securing the area...

[MajGenl.Meade]

Even if he gave co-ordinates for some landing strip in Islamist held territory, agree to that too...

By the time they landed, there'd be 3000 US Special Forces securing the area...

... and here I thought you were opposed to Trumpianisms

[Lord Jim]

Even if he gave co-ordinates for some landing strip in Islamist held territory, agree to that too...

By the time they landed, there'd be 3000 US Special Forces securing the area...

... and here I thought you were opposed to Trumpianisms

That's not "Trumpianism"...

That would be an appropriate and prudent response in that situation...let the guy on the plane think he's flying a plane load of hostages back to his pals when we've actually secured the area...

A "Trumpian" response would be to hit the landing area with a tactical nuke...

[MajGenl.Meade]

Tee hee. So in this case, if the EGYPTIAN airliner had been commanded to fly from Alexandria to De'esh held territory (what's that - a 2-3 hour flight?).... then the U.S. President, B. Obama, would have had 3,000 Special Forces flown to (say) Syria in less time than -snap- that to defeat Da'esh fighters and take over an airport to await the arrival of the EGYPTIAN airliner?

They'd have been riding unicorns, would they?

[Lord Jim]

Uhh, no, I was referring to a hypothetical American plane being hijacked...

I thought that was clear...perhaps not...

[oldr_n_wsr]

Uhh, no, I was referring to a hypothetical American plane being hijacked...

I thought that was clear...perhaps not...

Sadly, I don't think the country of the plane would matter to Obama. Nothing would be done.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Uhh, no, I was referring to a hypothetical American plane being hijacked...

I thought that was clear...perhaps not...

Oh OK. So if it had been UA 84 flying from New York to Tel Aviv and they were still about two hours out and a hijacker demanded they fly to Syria into IS hands, you reckon Obama would have 3,000 US Special Forces in Syria in less than two hours?

How come we haven't done this already and got rid of these Da'esh people if it's so easy? Donald?