Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961

Artist rendition of the moment the left wing struck the water.
Hijacking summary
Date	November 23, 1996 (1996-11-23)
Type	Fuel starvation due to hijacking, water landing
Site	Ethiopian airspace
Passengers	163 (including 3 hijackers)
Crew	12
Injuries	50
Fatalities	125 (including 3 hijackers)
Survivors	50
Aircraft type	Boeing 767-260ER
Operator	Ethiopian Airlines
Tail number	ET-AIZ
Flight origin	Sahar International Airport, Mumbai, India
1st stopover	Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2nd stopover	Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, Kenya
3rd stopover	Maya-Maya Airport, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo
Last stopover	Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, Nigeria
Destination	Port Bouet Airport, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961, a Boeing 767-260ER, was hijacked on 23 November 1996,^[1] en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi on a Bombay–Addis Ababa–Nairobi–Brazzaville–Lagos–Abidjan service,^[2][3] by three Ethiopians seeking political asylum in Australia.^[4] The plane crash-landed in the Indian Ocean near Comoros due to fuel starvation, killing 125 of the 175 passengers and crew on board, along with the hijackers.^[4] The other 50 survived with injuries. At the time this accident took place, it was the second deadliest one involving a hijacked aircraft.^[5] However, it shifted to the third place after the occurrence of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Hijack

When the aircraft, tail number ET-AIZ,^[4] nicknamed Zulu by Ethiopian Airlines' pilots,^[6] was still flying over Ethiopian airspace,^[7] three Ethiopian men charged the cockpit and hijacked the aircraft after taking an axe and a fire extinguisher from the cockpit. According to a special Airdisaster.com report, "One of the men ran down the aisle toward the cockpit shouting statements that could not be understood, and his two accomplices followed soon after." The report described the men as "young (mid-twenties), inexperienced, psychologically fragile, and intoxicated."^[7] Ethiopian state-operated radio later identified the hijackers as two unemployed high-school graduates and a nurse; their names were Alemayehu Bekeli Belayneh, Mathias Solomon Belay, and Sultan Ali Hussein (they did not say who had which description).^[8]

The men threatened to blow the plane out of the sky if the pilot and co-pilot—Leul Abate and Yonas Mekuria—did not obey their demands. They announced over the intercom that they were opponents of the Ethiopian government seeking political asylum, having recently been released from prison. The hijackers said that there were eleven of them when in fact there were only three. Authorities later determined that the bomb was actually a covered bottle of liquor.^[7][9][10]

The hijackers demanded the plane to be flown to Australia;^[4][7] the in-flight magazine stated the 767 could make the trip on a full tank and the plane had been refueled at its last stopover. Leul tried to explain they had only taken on the fuel needed for the scheduled flight and thus could not even make a quarter of the journey, but the hijackers did not believe him.^[10]

Instead of flying towards Australia, the captain followed the African coastline. The hijackers noticed that land was still visible and forced the pilot to steer east. Leul secretly headed for the Comoro Islands, which lie midway between Madagascar and the African mainland.^[10]

Crash landing

Sequence showing the ditching of the aircraft.

The plane was nearly out of fuel as it approached the island group, but the hijackers continued to ignore the captain's warnings. Out of options, Leul began to circle the area, hoping to land the plane at the Comoros's main airport. When the plane ran out of fuel, both engines failed. The crew used a ram air turbine to preserve the aircraft's most essential functions, but in this mode some hydraulic systems — such as the flaps — were inoperative. This forced Leul to land at more than 175 knots (about 320 km/h or 200 mph).^[10]

Leul tried to make an emergency landing at Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport on Grande Comore, but a fight with the hijackers at the last minute caused him to lose his visual point of reference, leaving him unable to locate the airport. While still fighting with the hijackers, he tried to ditch the aircraft in shallow waters 500 yards (457 m) off Le Galawa Beach Hotel, near Mitsamiouli at the northern end of Grande Comore island. Leul attempted to land parallel with the waves instead of against the waves in an effort to smooth the landing. ET-AIZ's left engine and wingtip struck the water first. The engine acted as a scoop and struck a coral reef, slowing that side of the aircraft quickly, causing the Boeing 767 to violently spin left and break apart. Island residents and tourists, including a group of scuba divers and some French doctors on vacation, came to the aid of crash survivors.^[10][11] Many passengers died because they inflated their life jackets in the cabin,^[7][9] causing them to be trapped inside by the rising water. This led to further notices about not inflating the vests before exiting the plane.

A tourist recorded a video of ET-AIZ crashing; she said that she had begun taping because she initially believed that the 767 formed a part of an air show for tourists.^[12]

Fate of the passengers and crew

The passengers originated from the following countries:^[13]

• Austria
• Cameroon
• Canada
• Republic of the Congo
• Ethiopia
• France (4)^[14]
• Germany
• Hungary (1)^[14]
• India (19, 6 survived)^[15]
• Israel (8)^[14][16]
• Italy (3)^[14]
• Japan^[17] (at least 1 survived)^[18]
• Kenya
• Lesotho
• Nigeria
• Somalia
• South Korea
• Sri Lanka
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Uganda
• Ukraine
• United Kingdom (7, at least 2 survived)^[14][19]
• United States (4, 3 survived)^[14][18]
• Yemen

Of the passengers, 42 boarded in Bombay, including:^[14]

• 3 Americans
• 19 Indians
• 9 Nigerians
• 9 Sri Lankans

The rest of the passengers boarded in Addis Ababa.

One hundred twenty-five of the 175 passengers and crew members were killed, as well as all three hijackers. Many of the passengers who died survived the initial crash, but they had disregarded or did not hear Leul's warning not to inflate their life jackets inside the aircraft, causing them to be pushed against the ceiling of the fuselage by the inflated life jackets when water flooded in. Unable to escape, they drowned. An estimated 60 to 80 passengers, strapped to their seats, presumably drowned.^[20]

Leul and Yonas both survived. For his actions, Leul was awarded the Flight Safety Foundation Professionalism in Flight Safety Award.^[21]

Notable passengers

Among those killed was Mohamed Amin, a famous wartime photojournalist and publisher of Selamta, Ethiopian Airlines' in-flight magazine.^[22] He was believed to be standing near the entrance to the cockpit arguing and negotiating with the hijacker presumed to be guarding the cockpit during the final moments of the flight. Brian Tetley, Amin's colleague, also died.^[23]

Franklin Huddle, the U.S. Consul General of Bombay at the time, and his wife Chanya "Pom" Huddle both survived the crash.^[18] Huddle said that he chose to fly on Ethiopian Airlines while planning a safari trip to Kenya because of the airline's reputation. Huddle said in an interview that Ethiopian Airlines was one of two in Africa to have Federal Aviation Administration certification. Huddle wanted a flight during the day, reasoning that flying during the day was "safer."^[10] Huddle credited his and his wife's survival to a last-minute upgrade to business class.^[24]

Other passengers on the aircraft included Antal Annus, the Hungarian ambassador to Kenya,^[13] who died, and a French foreign ministry official.^[25]

Aftermath

The incident has become a well-known hijacking because of the videotape.^[12] The video later served as an important tool in studies of aviation crashes and procedures.^{[citation needed]}

This was one of very few large airliner water landings, the first hijacked water landing. Both the captain and co-pilot of the flight received aviation awards, and both continued to fly for Ethiopian Airlines.^[10]

In the media

The crash was featured in two episodes of Mayday (Air Emergency, Air Crash Investigation). One appeared in season 1 to explain what might have happened if Air Transat Flight 236 had ditched instead of landing in a nearby airport. It appeared again in season 3, this time directly explaining the events of Flight 961. It was also featured in a 2010 episode of the Biography Channel series I Survived..., in which a survivor told his story of what happened on the plane,^[26] and also appeared in the documentary Out of the Wreckage - Plane Crash Survivors, which features crashes that were caught on camera and with survivors.^{[citation needed]}

See also

	Ethiopia portal
	Africa portal
	Aviation portal

• List of notable accidents and incidents on commercial aircraft
• List of airline flights that required gliding
• Air Canada Flight 143
• Air Transat Flight 236

References

1. ^ "1996 spawns worst-ever accident totals". Flightglobal.com. Flight International. 15 January 1997. http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/1997/01/15/1383/1996-spawns-worst-ever-accident-totals.html. Retrieved 5 June 2011. "The 23 November 1996, hijack of an Ethiopian Airlines 767 resulted in the death of 128 people when the pilots were forced to ditch the aircraft near the Comoros Islands." 
2. ^ "PLANE IS HIJACKED; CRASHES IN OCEAN OFF EAST AFRICA". The New York Times. 24 November 1996. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05E7DA123DF937A15752C1A960958260&scp=6&sq=ethiopian%20airlines&st=cse. Retrieved 20 February 2011. 
3. ^ "Terror Aloft, Death at Sea". The New York Times. 1 December 1996. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/01/weekinreview/terror-aloft-death-at-sea.html?scp=66&sq=ethiopian%20airlines&st=cse. Retrieved 20 February 2011. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Hijacking description at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 24 May 2011.
5. ^ "Corrections". The New York Times. 27 November 1996. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/27/nyregion/c-corrections-490385.html?src=pm. Retrieved 19 February 2011. 
6. ^ Mayday series, season 3, episode 13, interview with pilot Leul Abate
7. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Air Disaster.Com: Special Report: Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961". AirDisaster.com. http://www.airdisaster.com/special/ethiopian961.shtml. Retrieved 20 February 2011. 
8. ^ "Government Names Ethiopian Airlines Hijackers". Minnesota Daily (World & Nation digest). 1996-12-05. http://www.mndaily.com/articles/1996/12/05/807. Retrieved 2008-01-12. ^{[dead link]}
9. ^ ^{a b} Adrian Blomfield (25 January 2010). "Beirut: 90 feared dead as Ethiopian Airlines plane crashes into Mediterranean". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/lebanon/7069269/Beirut-90-feared-dead-as-Ethiopian-Airlines-plane-crashes-into-Mediterranean.html. Retrieved 18 February 2011. 
10. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "African Hijack"/"Ocean Landing," Mayday
11. ^ Lendon, Brad. "Previous jet ditchings yielded survival lessons." CNN. Retrieved on 16 January 2009.
12. ^ ^{a b} "Honeymooners capture dramatic images of Ethiopian jet crash," CNN (via Archive.Org)
13. ^ ^{a b} Cohen, Tom. I was sinking fast . . . I had to get out." Associated Press via The Independent. November 25, 1996. Retrieved on December 29, 2008.
14. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} McNeil Jr., Donald (November 25, 1996). Terror in the Air, and Frantic Rescue From the Sea. The New York Times.
15. ^ "Hijacked Ethiopian Jet Crashes with 19 Indians Aboard." India Abroad. November 29, 1996. Retrieved on January 29, 2010.
16. ^ Plane Is Hijacked; Crashes In Ocean Off East Africa. The New York Times. November 24, 1996. Page 11, New York Edition. Retrieved on January 29, 2010.
17. ^ "Ethiopia mourns crash victims," CNN. November 25, 1996. Retrieved on November 24, 2009.
18. ^ ^{a b c} "`I Thought I Had Finished My Life' -- Tale Depicts Drunken Abductors Who Fought With Pilot -- Survivors Tell Of Terror As Jetliner Tumbles Across Ocean's Surface." Washington Post via Associated Press and The Seattle Times. November 25, 1996. Retrieved on January 29, 2010.
19. ^ "British woman swam from hijack plane". The Independent. 25 November 1996. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4825592.html. Retrieved 23 August 2011. 
20. ^ Ethiopian airline crash kills at least 50. CNN. November 23, 1996.^{[dead link]}
21. ^ "Flight Safety Foundation Award in Flight Professionalism". Flight Safety Foundation. http://www.flightsafety.org/aviation-awards/fsf-professionalism-award-flight-safety. Retrieved 2009-10-08. 
22. ^ Episode Seven, Mo & Me
23. ^ "Mohamed Amin, 53, Camera Eye During the Famine in Ethiopia," The New York Times. November 26, 1996.
24. ^ "No Resting Place," Brown University Alumni Magazine
25. ^ "Bizarre ordeal recounted in Ethiopian Airlines crash." CNN. November 24, 1996. Retrieved on December 29, 2008.^{[dead link]}
26. ^ [1]

External links

External images
	Photos of ET-AIZ on airliners.net

• CNN interview transcripts
• Announcement of death of Mohammed Amin and Brian Tetley
• Rescuers continue search for victims of hijacked plane
• The Hijacking of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 (Criminal Acts Against Civil Aviation - 1996, FAA)
• Video clip of the crash