Lufthansa Flight 592
Stopover | Cairo International Airport, Cairo, Egypt |
---|---|
Destination | Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
Occupants | 104 |
Passengers | 94 |
Crew | 10 |
Fatalities | 0 |
Injuries | 0 |
Survivors | 104 |
Lufthansa Flight 592 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that was hijacked on February 11, 1993. The Lufthansa-operated Airbus A310-300 was hijacked by Nebiu Zewolde Demeke,[1][note 1] a 20-year old Ethiopian man seeking asylum who forced the pilot to fly to New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport. The aircraft landed safely, and the gunman surrendered peacefully and without incident. He was charged with aircraft hijacking by a United States district court, and was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment.
Flight
Flight 592 was an international flight operated by
Hijacker
Nebiu Zewolde Demeke was born on September 24, 1972, in Egypt.
Six months prior to the hijacking, Nebiu moved to
Demeke entered the airport carrying a
Hijacking
There's a young gentleman on board who does not want to go to Cairo, and he has a gun pointed at my head.
—Pilot Gerhard Goebel, in an announcement to passengers aboard Flight 592.[9]
At Frankfurt Airport, Nebiu took advantage of the airport security by stuffing a pistol deep into his hat and then placing his hat on a table adjacent to the scanner.
Approximately 35 minutes into the flight, as the aircraft reached
Nebiu demanded that the aircraft be flown to New York City and demanded
Pilot Gerhard Goebel was able to calm Nebiu down during the non-stop flight to New York. Though Nebiu kept the pistol pointed at Goebel's head for the duration of the flight, he removed his ski mask.[6] Goebel later told newspapers that he spent the hours trying to build a rapport with Nebiu, who admitted to having spent several months planning the hijacking.[8] Both men agreed that, upon arriving in New York, Goebel would give Nebiu his sunglasses in exchange for Nebiu's pistol.[7][8][9][10]
The aircraft arrived at
Aftermath
Nebiu was arrested and charged with air piracy in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn. He was arraigned on February 12, 1993; Judge Allyne Ross ordered him held without bail until his trial.[7][9] Nebiu remained convinced that he would not spend any time in prison and that he would be granted asylum.[1] During the course of his trial, he was twice found to be incompetent to stand trial and was prescribed medication for depression and hallucinations. He represented himself during the course of his four-day trial. He was found guilty in a jury trial after an hour of deliberation, and Judge Sterling Johnson, Jr. sentenced him to prison until 2013.[14]
Germany was criticized severely by the international press for lax security measures in Frankfurt Airport that allowed Nebiu to smuggle a pistol on board, and for allowing the hijacked aircraft to leave after refueling in Hanover. Frankfurt Airport, the busiest airport in Europe at the time, had recently come under fire after the bombing of
The incident was the first trans-Atlantic hijacking since five
In 2012, the hijacking was mentioned on an episode of the TV show Hostage: Do or Die on the episode "The Last Transatlantic Hijacking".
The hijacked aircraft continued to remain with Lufthansa between 1993 and 1999 and 2001 to 2004 respectively. On August 12, 1999, the plane was later leased to Air Afrique and re-registered as TU-TAZ until 2001, when it was seized by the lessor at Charles de Gaulle Airport. It was then returned to Lufthansa in August 2001 until it was retired on 2004. On February 20, 2004, the aircraft was transferred to Air Transat, re-registered as C-GTSI until it left from the fleet on May 11, 2009. On December 7, 2009, the aircraft was later transferred to Vertir Airlines and re-registered as EK-31095 until May 2010. On May 1, 2010, the aircraft was later transferred to Mahan Air and re-registered as EP-MNO and currently remains with the airline. It is currently parked at Imam Khomeini International Airport since May 2021.[16]
D-AIDM, the former aircraft registration later assigned to another Lufthansa aircraft 18 years later in 2011, an Airbus A321-200.[17]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Queen, Joseph W. (February 11, 1993). "Hijacker tells authority he won't be jailed, will 'be granted asylum'" (PDF). The Daily Gazette. Schenectady, NY. Newsday. p. D-1. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
- Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 2011-01-31.
- ^ Jones, Tamara; Goldman, John J. (1993-02-12). "11-Hour Hijack Ends Without Injury in N.Y." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
- ^ Miller, Tracey L. (1999-03-11). "Accused hijacker tells jury to acquit". United Press International. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
- ^ a b "Hijacker said to be volatile, hoped to join family in U.S." (PDF). Reading Eagle. Reading, PA. February 10, 1993. p. 2. Retrieved 2011-02-02. [dead link]
- ^ a b c d e f Federal Aviation Administration, Office of Civil Aviation Security (1993), Criminal Acts Against Civil Aviation, 1993, Washington, D.C.: FAA, pp. 55–56, archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-27, retrieved 2011-02-02
- ^ a b c Bowles, Pete; Joseph W. Queen (February 11, 1993). "Hijacking was carefully planned, prosecutor says" (PDF). The Daily Gazette. Schenectady, NY. Newsday. p. D-1. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
- ^ a b c d Boehmer, George (February 11, 1993). "Germany vows to uncover Frankfurt airport security lapses" (PDF). The Daily Gazette. Schenectady, NY. Associated Press. p. D-1. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
- ^ a b c d e f "Trans-Atlantic Hijacker Surrenders at Kennedy Airport" (PDF). Durant Daily Democrat. Durant, OK. AP. February 12, 1993. p. 10. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
- ^ a b c "11-hour ordeal in the air ends when hijacker gives up in N.Y." (PDF). The Vindicator. Youngstown, OH. February 12, 1993. p. A3. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
- ^ a b "A hijack story--by the book; Negotiators' 'schtick' worked perfect in Lufthansa incident". The Journal. Milwaukee, WI. AP. February 13, 1993. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-09-24. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
- ^ a b McShane, Larry (February 13, 1993). "Hostage negotiator recalls tense talks at Kennedy" (PDF). The Daily Gazette. Schenectady, NY. AP. p. D1. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
- ^ "Three men defused hijacking" (PDF). Morning Star. Wilmington, DE. AP. February 13, 1993. p. 8A. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
- ^ Richardson, Lynda (June 12, 1996). "Hijacker Sentenced to 20 Years as Judge Rejects Claim That Bias Made His Crime Justified". The New York Times. New York, NY. Retrieved 2011-02-02. - Full URL
- ^ "Questions raised over skyjacking, security" (PDF). Prescott Courier. Prescott, AZ. AP. February 12, 1993. p. 13A. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
- ^ "Mahan Air EP-MNO (Airbus A310 - MSN 595) (Ex C-GTSI D-AIDM EK31095 TU-TAZ)". www.airfleets.net. Airfleets aviation.
- ^ "D-AIDM Lufthansa Airbus A321-200". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
Notes
- Ethiopian names have no surnames: Zewolde is the man's father's name, and Demeke is the man's grandfather's name. He would be politely addressed by his given name "Nebiu". Some newspaper articles from the 1990s refer to him by his grandfather's name, Demeke. The Federal Bureau of Prisonslisted him (41973-053) with Demeke treated as the surname.