Feb 17/14: Hijack hijinks. The co-pilot on Ethiopian Airlines FLT ET-702 from Addis Ababa to Rome locks himself in the cockpit while the pilot goes to the bathroom, announces a hijacking, and flies the Boeing 767 jet into Geneva, Switzerland at 6:02 am.
The plane’s hijacking beacon went off over Egypt, and the Swiss Air Force was informed of the situation.
They just couldn’t respond, because their air bases are only open from 800 am – 12:00 noon, then 1:30 – 5:00 pm.
The reason? Swiss airforce spokesman Laurent Savary cited insufficient fighters, insufficient budgets, and insufficient staff, which isn’t expected to be fixed until after the Gripen buy in 2020.
Instead, Italian Eurofighters intercept the plane, and hand it off to French Mirage 2000s who escort the plane into Geneva. While Italy and France are reportedly authorized to fly their planes into Swiss airspace under such circumstances, neither is authorized to actually do anything.
Needless to say, the Swiss become a global joke. Motivated and committed political leadership could...
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