There was a world-wide sigh of relief as all passengers and crew of the hijacked EgyptAir passenger plane were freed after man hijacked it midway into flight between Alexandria and Cairo
The man who hijacked an EgyptAir plane flying between Alexandria and Cairo and ordered the pilot to divert to Larnaca in Cyprus has been arrested, according to the Cypriot foreign ministry and the airline.
A man was seen emerging from the aircraft and then walking across the tarmac with his hands up to two awaiting counter-terrorism police officer. He was reportedly laid on the ground and searched for about two minutes before being taken away.
An official at Egypt’s ministry of foreign affairs ruled out a terrorist motive, telling the reporters “He’s not a terrorist, he’s an idiot. Terrorists are crazy but they aren’t stupid. This guy is,” they said.
Earlier, seven more people, thought to be the last of the crew and passengers who had remained with the hijacker on board, were seen leaving the plane. One man climbed out the cockpit window. Flight MS181 had 55 passengers on board when it was seized, Egyptian authorities said. All passengers and crew appeared to have been freed from the aircraft safely.
There was confusion regarding his motive, Egyptian prime minister Sherif Ismail confirmed the man was an Egyptian national who had asked to meet European Union officials or to fly on to another airport.
Ismail told reporters that authorities would question the hijacker to ascertain his true motives, which remained a mystery.
“At some moments he asked to meet with a representative of the European Union and at other points he asked to go to another airport but there was nothing specific,” he said.
