Air West Flight 612

Air West Flight 612 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Air West between Khartoum, Sudan and Al-Fashir.[3] On January 24, 2007, with 103 people on board, the flight, operated by a Boeing 737, was hijacked shortly after takeoff by a male individual.[3][4] The plane landed safely at N'Djamena, Chad, where the hijacker surrendered.[3]

Air West Flight 612
A Boeing 737, similar to the aircraft involved in the hijacking
Hijacking
DateJanuary 24, 2007 (2007-01-24)
SummaryHijacking
SiteN'Djamena, Chad
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBoeing 737
OperatorAir West
RegistrationUnknown
Flight originKhartoum International Airport, Khartoum
DestinationEl Fasher Airport, Al-Fashir
Passengers95[1]
Crew8
Fatalities0
Injuries0
Survivors103 (all)[2]

Hijacking

On the day of the hijacking the plane had an entirely Sudanese passenger complement, the only exceptions being a British citizen and an Italian military attaché. Mohamed Abdu Altif (also referred to as Mohamed Abdelatif Mahamat[5]), a 26-year-old from Al-Fashir, in North Darfur, entered the cockpit of the aircraft at 09:00 local time (0600 UTC), approximately half an hour after takeoff from Khartoum International Airport. He ordered the pilot to fly to Rome, Italy and then on to London, England.[4][6] It was originally mistakenly reported that his weapon was an AK-47 assault rifle,[7] but subsequent reports stated that the weapon was in fact a handgun.[6]

After the pilot explained that there was not enough fuel on board to reach London, he agreed to fly to Chad.[6] He made no threats or other communication to the passengers, none of whom became aware the aircraft had been hijacked.[6] When the aircraft entered Chadian airspace it was met by French Mirage F-1 fighter jets stationed in N'Djamena,[8] which escorted the plane until it landed at N'Djamena International Airport at 0830 UTC, where it was immediately surrounded by Chadian troops.[4] Twenty minutes of negotiations followed,[4] after which the hijacker allowed all the occupants of the aircraft to leave before surrendering.[8]

Subsequent events

The passengers and crew subsequently re-boarded the aircraft, which then returned to Khartoum International at 22:00 local time (19:00 UTC).[8] The Sudanese Minister of Justice requested that Interpol hand over Muhammed, a Sudanese national, so that he could be charged with terrorism, posing a threat to passenger safety, and illegal possession of arms.[9] Chad further announced an intention to prosecute him.[6]

Chad's infrastructure minister, Adoum Younousmi, later said: "Chad is not a terrorist haven. He is a terrorist and we will take him to court".[10] A Chadian official subsequently identified him as being "close to" the Justice and Equality Movement rebel group.[8] Sudan's Civil Aviation Authority also formed a separate committee specifically to investigate how Muhammed was able to pass through security undetected.[8]

Motives

After Mohammed's arrest, he was taken to the headquarters for the National Security Agency for interrogation.[8] There, he revealed his motives for the hijacking. He wanted to draw attention to the conflict in Darfur, stating: "I wanted to attract national and international opinion to what's happening in Darfur." He said that wanted to go first to Rome, and then to the United Kingdom to seek asylum.[8] "I'm neither a rebel nor in the opposition, but the Sudanese government is exterminating the population by creating conflicts among different communities and saying that it's just an internal, communal problem," he said.[8]

See also

References

  1. "BBC NEWS - Africa - Sudan plane hijackers surrender". August 27, 2008. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  2. "Chadian troops seize hijacker of Sudanese plane". ABC News. January 24, 2007. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  3. "Hijacked Plane Lands In Chad". NBC Bay Area. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved January 24, 2007.
  4. Sudanese hijack ends, hijacker seized in Chad – newsgd.com – Retrieved April 18, 2007.
  5. "Sudanese arrested after attempted plane hijack". March 30, 2007. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  6. Sudan Plane Hijacker Surrenders in Chad – Townhall.com – Retrieved April 18, 2007.
  7. Sudanese passenger plane hijacked by gunmanReuters – Retrieved April 19, 2007.
  8. Troops seize hijacker of Sudan plane in Chad Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback MachineFrance 24 – Retrieved April 19, 2007.
  9. Air West Flight Hijack Archived July 2, 2007, at the Wayback Machine – Press Release by the United States embassy in khartoum, Sudan. Obtained on April 18, 2007.
  10. Sudan Plane Hijack Ends Peacefully – China.org.cn – Retrieved April 19, 2007.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.