On 23 November 1996, the aircraft serving the flight, a Boeing 767-200ER, was hijacked[1] en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi[2] by three Ethiopians seeking asylum in Australia. They were tracking the plane; it was an Ethiopian Airways plane, which tragically crashed just about a mile from the airport when it ran out of fuel. So I sent the whole story in and I sent it in. Zulu's last voyage occurred 17 years ago today, on November 23, 1996, and involves an almost unbelievable story of a terrorist plot gone horribly awry, and with spectacular but sad consequences. Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 was hijacked on 23 November 1996 en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi on a Bombay - Addis Ababa - Nairobi - Brazzaville - Lagos - Abidjan route, by three Ethiopians seeking … [3] The crash was captured on video. Michael Bociurkiw writes that part of the tragedy in the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 is the loss of humanitarian aid workers, each of whom was committeed to making the world a … The incident killed all 149 passengers and eight crew members onboard. Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961, a Boeing 767-200ER, was hijacked on Template:Date, en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi on a Bombay–Addis Ababa–Nairobi–Brazzaville–Lagos–Abidjan service, by three … It was nothing political at all, it was some goofy kids and they apparently didn’t have more than fire axes and fire extinguishers and they seized control of the airplane and didn’t even know where they wanted to go. It was a couple of nuts [who hijacked the plane]. Out of options, the captain began to circle the area, hoping to land the plane at the Comoros’ main airport; he was forced to ditch the plane, crashing into the Indian Ocean at approximately 200 miles per hour. They had no such things as coffins because they planted folks directly in the ground. Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET801 - Landing into Bujumbura - Burundi - (28/12/2011) Travel 14:09 Inside Africa's largest airline-The Ethiopian Airlines. Instead of flying towards Australia, the captain flew along the African coastline. But you know, it’s events like that when you realize what a good thing it is to have a diplomatic presence all over the world. The Comorans were supposed to come with a truck to take the Israeli bodies and the American bodies from the meatpacking plant to the airport and we were then going to load them on our plane and go off to Nairobi. Ambassador to Mauritius Harold W. Geisel flew to the small island and coordinated efforts to get the deceased Americans returned to the United States. [3] 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. I mean, that’s what’s so tragic. It was just wonderful to see the relief in the injured people’s faces when I introduced myself as the American ambassador and then explained to them what was going on. "Zulu" was the nickname of a Boeing 757-260ER, serial number 23916, that flew for Ethiopian Airlines. El Vuelo 961 de Ethiopian Airlines que hacía la ruta entre Adís Abeba (Etiopía y Nairobi (Kenia) fue secuestrado el 23 de noviembre de 1996 por tres etíopes que querían pedir asilo político en Australia. So we had to take the stairs, you know, these ordinary stairs that you push up to the airplane, take them, move them to the dump truck, jack them down and put the bodies in the coffins one by one on the stairs then push the stairs to the airplane hold and push the bodies into the hold. El 23 de noviembre de 1996, el avión que realizaba el vuelo, un Boeing 767-200ER , fue … The first thing I did is I flew with the admin officer to the Reunion airport. The plane was on … You can also read about the Lockerbie bombing and other terrorist incidents. Geisel was interviewed by Charles Stuart Kennedy beginning in June 2006. Ethiopian Flight 961 — The Worst Hijacking in History Before 9/11 On November 23, 1996, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 was flying from Addis Ababa to Nairobi when the plane was hijacked by three … THANK YOU. 422 likes. Ethiopia Airlines Flight 961. Finally it’s the damnedest sight I saw in my entire career. Ethiopian Airlines IATA ET ICAO ETH Callsign ETHIOPIAN Country Ethiopia Airline Founded 30 Dec 1945 Started Operations 8 Apr 1946 Headquarters Addis Ababa Bole (ADD / HAAB) Fleet Size 1 6.7 Years … The captain is about a have you ready to launch and extremely experienced pilot seven 300 kilograms Center tank is zero. Ethiopian Airlines-vlucht 961 was een Boeing 767-260ER die op 23 november 1996 gekaapt werd tijdens een vlucht van Ethiopië naar Ivoorkust. In fact, virtually all of our embassy was out of Mauritius. This was no small feat given the incompetence of local authorities, who forced delivery of the bodies to the airport in a dump truck; the lack of facilities; and the obstinance of one particular NSC official, which caused the Ambassador to react in a less-than-diplomatic manner. Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Government or of ADST. On November 23, 1996, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 was flying from Addis Ababa to Nairobi when the plane was hijacked by three Ethiopians. Their most notorious fatal crash was the the hijack of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 in 1996. Als gevolg van de kaping raakte het vliegtuig door zijn … I had her effects, I had her wallet with her Virginia driver’s license. Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961, a Boeing 767-200ER, was hijacked on 23 November 1996, en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi on an Addis Ababa–Nairobi–Brazzaville–Lagos–Abidjan service, by three … About two weeks later I got a call from Mary, Mary Ryan, saying that this general was making a great deal of trouble for the Air Force pilot and could I please confirm in writing what I had done. Collecting your train ticket You can pick up your Rail & Fly ticket from any DB long-distance ticket machine as from 72h before your … Actually, I ended up interpreting for lots of other injured people that didn’t speak French. The next day, I left for Comoros and there worked with the French, the Israelis who had lost six people and the Japanese who needed help and who also didn’t speak French but who’d lost a whole bunch of people. Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961, a Boeing 767-200ER, was hijacked on 23 November 1996, en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi on an Addis Ababa–Nairobi–Brazzaville–Lagos–Abidjan service, by … We had no representation on Comoros, of course, that was from us. The hijackers noticed that land was still visible and forced the pilot to steer east. The plane was nearly out of fuel but the hijackers continued to ignore the captain’s warnings. Ethiopian Airlines flight ET961 : on Saturday, November 23, 1996, at approximately 1220 UTC, Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET961 , a Boeing 767-200 ER, registration ET-AIZ ditched in the Indian … So the Israelis, being Israelis, had bribed a dump truck driver to stop and take the coffins and everything. English: The seat plan of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 (English), a Boeing 767-200ER, which was hijacked on 23 November 1996, en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi on an Addis … It has known security flaws and may not display all features of this and other websites. They declared in Amharic, French and English that if anyone tried to interfere, they had a bomb and they would use it to blow up the plane. IN MEMORRY OF THE VICTIMS IN PARTICULAR THEIR THE FAMILY AND FRIENDS OF THE ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 961, ON 23 NOV 1996. I must say, rather matter-of-factly and, of course, typical State Department, I had two calls from people saying, “My, my, this ambassadorship seems to have gone to your head, Harry.” What else would you expect but second guessing? Flight status, tracking, and historical data for Ethiopian Airlines 861 (ET861/ETH861) including scheduled, estimated, and actual departure and arrival times. Ethiopian airlines flug 961 Find Discounted Ethiopian Airlines Tickets to Everywhere.Book Now & Avail Our Best Prices Save on Cheap Flights to Your Destination. We were going to bring the bodies back to America, of course, in the coffins that I had either bought or brought with me and, fortunately and sadly, the Israelis are really experts at taking care of their people who get killed. The Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767-200ER involved in the crash of Flight 961 in November 1996 Class upgrade award is not offered on Ethiopian domestic flights After being requested, upgrade awards are only valid for the applied flight. Ethiopian Airlines is not liable for any missed flights due to delayed trains. Interested in Recording Your Oral History, Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training. Die … We’d convinced the Comorans to set up a makeshift morgue in what was meatpacking plant because it was the only place that was cool. GEISEL:  We had a terrible plane crash, a hijacked plane that crashed in the Comoros Islands while I was there and six Americans were killed. The History Channel created a short video, using computer-generated images and footage filmed by tourists on a nearby beach. One report later described them as “young (mid-twenties), inexperienced, psychologically fragile, and intoxicated.” It would turn out to be the deadliest hijacking in history until 9/11. The men threatened to blow the plane up in flight if the pilots did not obey their demands. Your browser (Internet Explorer 7 or lower) is out of date. When the hijackers demanded the plane be flown to Australia, where they demanded asylum, the captain tried to explain they had only enough fuel for the scheduled flight and thus could not even make a quarter of the way, but the hijackers did not believe him. Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 was a scheduled flight serving the route Addis Ababa–Nairobi–Brazzaville–Lagos–Abidjan. The first thing that we did- the French, who dominated the islands, it was a former French colony, advised us that a number of injured Americans were going to be taken to La Reunion, which is this island near Mauritius that is a department of France now, it used to be a French colony. According to the Ethiopian News Agency, 11 hijackers commandeered Flight 961 shortly after it took off from the capital, Addis Ababa. I’ll skip all the gruesome details except for one because this is well worth telling. Ambassador Frank Huddle, survived. I said to the pilot, “You tell that general that the American Ambassador has told you to get the fuck off of his island now.” No, I said actually “to get the fuck out of his country right now.” And he said, “Yes sir, yes sir.” And we did it. Of the 175 passengers and staff members from the flight, only 50 passengers, including U.S. Learn how to update your browser. The odyssey of Flight 961 … Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961, a Boeing 767-200ER, was hijacked on 23 November 1996, en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi on a Bombay –Addis Ababa–Nairobi– Brazzaville – Lagos – … 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 … Finally, up comes a dump truck and in that dump truck you see an orthodox rabbi bowing and praying and chanting over the bodies, the Israelis were in body bags, our people, including the wife of a Freetown FSN [Foreign Service National, an employee of the U.S. embassy], were in coffins. Great Flight … The pilot was nervous, he was an Air Force captain, he didn’t know what was going on and was very worried. No dia 23 de novembro de 1996, o Boeing … Upgrade Awards are valid for 12 months from the date of issuance. Tuko.co.ke 0:37 Ethiopian Airlines … That was what was so awful. It is the second Boeing 737 MAX to crash in five months. El vuelo 961 de Ethiopian Airlines era un vuelo regular en la ruta Addis Ababa - Nairobi - Brazzaville - Lagos - Abidjan. This was madness, it was bureaucratic madness. All of these things are tragic but this utter farce ended with most of the people being killed. Investigations are under way after Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 crashed shortly after taking off. The truck doesn’t come and the truck doesn’t come. Mary, may she rest in peace, was most worried about what really mattered — that the bodies were decomposing as the NSC bureaucrat did his thing. He has … If you'll be in Airlines flight 961 is a routine trip from above to the ivory Coast. However, there was a brigadier general in the NSC [National Security Council] who was being very stubborn and he said you can’t stop in Nairobi, it’s a deviation from your flight plan, blah, blah, blah and Mary Ryan, the Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs and the pilot, who was an Air Force reservist, came to me and they said we’ve got to get out. So, wheeling and dealing with the French in Comoros, we were able to borrow a few coffins and I brought a coffin with my baggage, if you can imagine. Now this is where it gets sad and interesting. Go here to read more about the 1974 Pan Am crash in Bali. What had happened is the Comorans had welshed and they’d never brought a truck. Book Now Your Flight! Limited Seats and Deals. The idea that these bodies were rotting because of some jerk general at the National Security Council was, well, that’s why I said, “Get the fuck out of my country.”. … They got to the airport and then the French, for whatever reason I can’t imagine, refused to give us the conveyor belt which belonged to I guess Air France to load the plane. ET727 (Ethiopian Airlines) - Live flight status, scheduled flights, flight arrival and departure times, flight tracks and playback, flight route and airport The world’s most popular flight tracker. Track planes in real-time on our flight tracker map and get up-to-date flight … Our public affairs officer had gone ahead of me and he was helping the Washington people by translating for them and showing them around. ©Copyright 1998-2021 Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training These were Ethiopians; the plane had originated somewhere else, I forgot where, and it stopped in Addis and on Addis these youngsters, I think they were in their early 20s, had gotten on and seized control of it. O voo Ethiopian Airlines 961 foi um voo comercial que ligava Addis Abeba, na Etiópia, a Abidjan, na Costa do Marfim, com escalas em Nairobi, Brazzaville e Lagos. The Comoran government was a farce, it was a dictatorship, it was — they were nice people but they were screamingly incompetent and corrupt to boot. Now the Jews don’t do embalming but still the Israelis that came helped with very basic embalming and they asked us, they’d come on a small plane, could they put their bodies on our plane too because we had decided to stop in Nairobi on the way back where there was proper embalming available. The French military were very helpful and when the plane landed from Comoros, a French military plane with our injured people on it, I went to them, I interviewed them, the French being the French wanted the customs things done in French so I interpreted, none of the Americans who landed there spoke French. November 1996 wurde eine Boeing 767-200ER auf dem Ethiopian-Airlines-Flug 961 entführt und musste infolge von Treibstoffmangel vor der Küste der Komoren im Indischen Ozean notwassern. The Department flew an air craft; you know the plane that the counterterrorism people have, with Consular Affairs and FBI people and all the rest. So I did something I never did before and never did again. But that was fine, I’d do it again 50 times over. It was a terrible business. I mean, obviously the Israelis, some of the Israelis were from the Mossad and our security people wanted to get out as quickly as they could. The captain secretly headed for the Comoros Islands, located between the African coast and Madagascar. Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 was an international commercial flight scheduled from Beirut to Addis Ababa that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after takeoff from Rafic Hariri International … (Authorities later determined that the purported bomb was actually a covered bottle of liquor.) What really got to me, what was heartbreaking is that one of the people who was killed was a young woman, a first-tour CIA junior officer, a lovely girl. 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