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More bad news for tourism in Egypt.


Man Strapped With Explosives Hijacks Plane.

A man strapped with explosives has hijacked a passenger plane during an internal flight in Egypt.

EgyptAir flight MSR181 has now landed at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus, where all but four foreign passengers and the crew are being allowed to disembark.

Eight Britons and 10 Americans were reported to have been among the 81 passengers on board when the plane took off. The nationalities of those left on board is unknown.

The Civil Aviation Ministry said the pilot was threatened by a passenger wearing a suicide belt.

A statement said: "The Airbus A-320 carrying 81 passengers and flying between Alexandria and Cairo was hijacked.

"The pilot said that a passenger told him he had an explosives vest and forced the plane to land in Larnaca."

The airliner took off from Alexandria at 8am.

A hijacker contacted the control tower at 8.30am (5.30am in UK) and the plane was given permission to land at 8.50am.

A crisis team including ambulances were deployed to the airport.

EgyptAir tweeted: "Our flight MS181 is officially hijacked. We'll publish an official statement now."

Israel scrambled warplanes in its airspace as a precaution in response to the hijacking, according to an Israeli military source.

The hijacking calls into question air security in Egypt five months after a Russian plane crashed over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board.

Russia said a bomb brought down the plane and the attack was claimed by IS.

More follows...

Source: http://news.sky.com/story/1668659/hijac ... -in-cyprus

Update: http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/03/29/hijac ... olice-says

The official egyptian response is that it's not a hijack but that the pilot took a wrong turn.

The Daily Mails take on it...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... yprus.html

Let's hope everyone comes out ok. And if the new antiquities minister doesn't have the sense to postpone the April 1 press conference on Tut's tomb immediately, he should be sacked. As there will be no benefit from any discovery if there is one if it is announced in the next week.

I see it was flying out of Burg al-Arab Airport. Last year someone posted a photo online of the flight departures and arrivals "board" at Burg al-Arab. It literally was a piece of paper taped to the wall with a list of flights and times scribbled down on it. So if that is the kind of technology they have for the flight schedules you can only imagine the security.

But that gets me thinking about an even weaker and catastrophic weakness in the domestic airport security, something so potentially horrific I don't even want to say what it is.

The report on al Ahram is very confusing as regards the time of the incident. I suspect that the take-off time is expressed as Egyptian time (GMT+2) while the other times are Cyprus summer time (GMT+3). I was puzzled by the apparent shortness of the journey to Larnaca.

I have flown many domestic flights around Egypt, although admittedly not the Burg-Al-Arab, and the security has been the same as it is for international flights. In Cairo, they wont let you take a sealed bottle of water given by egyptair, on a connecting flight so they were pretty sharp when I went through.

You are a tourist Robbo70, I have heard that on internal flightrs in Egypt that Egyptians dont even after show their passport, you know the rest..... Mahmoud knows Mohammed who works at the airport, "As-Salaam-Alaikum" they have a cheek to cheek kiss, hold hands and have a chat while he walks through the detector ehich must be going of due to his belt only.....etc...

I think it's very early to know what has happened at the moment, it's best to listen to what the results are.

While writing this Sky News is reporting the so called Hijacker is thought to have dual nationality of American/Egyptian, something quickly came to mind, but I see they have been put to one side by the person posting. Sorry, GD, just trying to lighten up a serious situation

Let's all hope the situation is brought to a good conclusion.

Major Thom wrote:I think it's very early to know what has happened at the moment, it's best to listen to what the results are.
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At the end of the day he got through security, the thing Egyptians were complaining about the other day.

Heated debate over Egyptian airports getting foreign inspect

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=36940

"The plane was carrying 81 passengers and had a 15-person crew plus one security officer."

Why would a short domestic flight require a crew of 15?

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent ... -aboa.aspx

Because you have an obsessive-compulsive disorder focused on numbers, that's why.

Because Egyptair carry off duty crew to other cities to start or finish their shifts depending on their shifts. It didnt say 15 crew were working. Egyptair have sinse declared 56 passengers, 7 crew and 1 security

We now learn that the photograph of the person who hijacked this plane, which has been flashed all around the world, was in fact a passenger. Further to this we now learn this is not so much a general domestic problem with regards the hijacker, but instead is now demanding the release of prisoners in Egypt.

What is this a joke,.........a very sick one, at that.

It appears to be over......mercifully without injuries.

Hijacker arrested.

He won't last when when he's sent back to Cairo.

Thank goodness, let's hope they can get what happened sorted out quickly. Do you think he will disappear Crewmeal.

What explosives just because he said so I don't think anyone could get through any airport strapped with explosives but pilots sop is to take any threat seriously as in this case.
Just goes to show everyone still believes the newspapers.

DJKeefy wrote:

Major Thom wrote:I think it's very early to know what has happened at the moment, it's best to listen to what the results are.
.

At the end of the day he got through security, the thing Egyptians were complaining about the other day.

Heated debate over Egyptian airports getting foreign inspect

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=36940

They should take the help for peace of mind needed to bring back Tourism they should not be paying that ridiculous amount of money for it. It's a pill that needs to be swallowed or we can carry on with the status quo it doesn't take airlines to resume flights to repair the damage.

I doubt anyone would get through any airport with an explosive belt on.

Do you think he will disappear Crewmeal.

Knowing the Egyptian authorities they won't take kindly to all the bad press given about security and to hijack their own aircraft is classed as piracy. He'll go.