Air Crash Investigations – African Hijack (Ethiopian Airlines 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–Abidjan service, by three Ethiopians seeking political asylum in Australia. The plane crash-landed in the Indian Ocean near Grande Comore, Comoros Islands, due to fuel starvation, killing 125 of the 175 passengers and crew on board, along with the hijackers; the rest of the people on board survived with injuries. At the time this incident took place, it was the second deadliest hijacking involving a single aircraft. However, it fell to third place with the September 11, 2001 attacks. The incident is the only true water landing of a widebody airliner with survivors.

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