Egyptair flight hijacked in mid-air and landed at Larnaca

UPDATE: “It’s over. The #hijacker arrested.” came a tweet from the Foreign Minister of Cyprus a few minutes after a man identified as Seif Eldin Mustafa the hijacker of Egyptair flight MSR181 left the aircraft with his hands in the air.

All hostages had already deplaned safely and it is suggested that the man’s ex-wife lives in Cyprus and that the whole events of the day were caused by his emotional instability rather than any terrorist intent.

It does however raise significant questions as to how a man with explosives strapped to his body (even if they were inert) was able to get through security at Alexandria airport and will need some serious investigation by Egyptian authorities.

EARLY reports have been received that an Egyptair domestic flight carrying 55 passengers and between five and seven crew which took off from Alexandria en route for Cairo on March 29 was hijacked once in the air.

According to a release by the Egyptian civil aviation authority, the pilot of the Airbus 320 radioed that a passenger who was wearing an explosives belt forced him to land at Larnaca airport in Cyprus where a number of women and children were released together with most of the passengers who are said to include eight Britons and 10 Americans.

It is suggested that four foreign passengers and the entire crew have been kept on board as hostages but at the time of writing, no reason for the hijacking has been revealed nor have any demands been made other than that the authorities keep away from the aircraft.