An Ethiopian co-pilot who hijacked a Rome bound plane Monday morning and flew it to Geneva has surrendered to Swiss authorizes, Reuters reported. The co-pilot on the Ethiopian Airlines plane flew to Switzerland to seek asylum, authorities said.
The unarmed co-pilot, identified as an Ethiopian man born in 1983, did not injure any of the plane's 202 passengers or crew, the Associated Press reported. The man took control of the plan, which left from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, when the pilot left the cockpit.
"The pilot went to the toilet and he (the co-pilot) locked him-self in the cockpit," Geneva airport CEO Robert Deillon said, the AP reported.
The man landed the plane in Geneva at around 6 a.m. The co-pilot then climbed out of a window in the cockpit and surrendered, Reuters reported.
"Just after landing, the co-pilot came out of the cockpit and ran to the police and said, 'I'm the hijacker,' " police spokesman Pierre Grangean said, Reuters reported. "He said he is not safe in his own country and want's asylum."
The co-pilot took control of the plane while it was flying over northern Italy. Deillon said they first learned of the hijacking when the co-pilot entered a distress code into the plane's transponder, Reuters reported.
"There is...a code for hijack. So this co-pilot put in the code for "I just hijacked the aircraft,' " Deillon said, Reuters reported.
Two Italian fighter jets were then sent to fly with to the plane.
The passengers were apparently unaware the plane had been hijacked, the AP reported.
The Ethiopian government, which owns Ethiopian Airlines, has been criticized for violating human rights and suppressing political dissent. However, it is rare for government employees to seek asylum, Reuters reported.
Swiss authorizes are currently investigating the hijacking. The co-pilot, whose name was not released, faces up to 20 years in prison if he is charged, Geneva prosecutor Olivier Jornot told the AP.
