A co-pilot who hijacked an Ethiopian Airlines flight to seek asylum in Switzerland on Monday surrendered to police at Geneva airport after jumping out of a cockpit window and scrambling down an emergency rope.
The airliner's second-in-command, named by Ethiopia as Hailemedhin Abera Tegegn, 31, took control of the plane when the pilot left the cockpit to use the toilet. He then sent a coded signal announcing he had hijacked his own aircraft.
With the airliner on the tarmac, an unarmed Hailemedhin made his exit via a cockpit window, without harming passengers or crew, police spokesman Pierre Grangean told a news conference.
"Just after landing, the co-pilot came out of the cockpit and ran to the police and said, 'I'm the hijacker.' He said he is not safe in his own country and wants asylum," Grangean said.
The airliner could later be seen with a knotted yellow rope dangling from an open cockpit window.
Co-pilot hijacks Ethiopian plane to Geneva, exits cockpit by rope | Reuters
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