Air West Flight 612

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Air West Flight 612
Air West Boeing 737-200 Mutzenberg.jpg
ST-SDA, the aircraft involved in the hijacking, in 2006
Hijacking
DateJanuary 24, 2007 (2007-01-24)
SummaryHijacking
Site N'Djamena, Chad
12°6′36″N15°3′0″E / 12.11000°N 15.05000°E / 12.11000; 15.05000
Aircraft
Aircraft type Boeing 737-2T4
Operator Air West
Registration ST-SDA
Flight origin Khartoum International Airport, Khartoum
Destination El Fasher Airport, Al-Fashir
Occupants103
Passengers95 [1]
Crew8
Fatalities0
Injuries0
Survivors103 [2]

Air West Flight 612 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Air West between Khartoum and Al-Fashir, both in Sudan. [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]

Contents

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 the hijacker's 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 at 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 get a weapon 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. 1 2 3 "Hijacked Plane Lands In Chad". NBC Bay Area. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved January 24, 2007.
  4. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 3 4 5 Sudan Plane Hijacker Surrenders in Chad – Townhall.com – Retrieved April 18, 2007.
  7. Sudanese passenger plane hijacked by gunman [ dead link ]Reuters – Retrieved April 19, 2007.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Troops seize hijacker of Sudan plane in Chad Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine France 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.