World

Jet Seizure Ends Peacefully

October 19, 1999 / 1:50 PM EDT / AP

The identity of the alleged hijacker of an EgyptAir passenger jet remained a mystery Wednesday, a day after he forced a 737 to land in Hamburg and was lured off the plane with a promise that his request for political asylum would be considered.

Despite the pledge, officials still plan to charge the man in Germany with hijacking for seizing control of Flight 838 shortly after it took off from Istanbul's Ataturk airport, said Hamburg Police Chief Wolfgang Sielaff.

All 55 people aboard were freed after the plane landed Tuesday in Hamburg, about four hours after it took off from Turkey.

Â"This hijacking has ended and, thank God, without bloodshed,Â" a police spokesman told reporters late on Tuesday.

According to Sielaff, the suspect, who is between 20 and 25 years old, said during the flight that he was seeking political asylum and would release the hostages if his request was granted.

German police were still trying to identify the alleged hijacker on Wednesday, but TV footage released after the drama showed police leading a man in his early 20s who was smiling broadly.

One co-pilot suffered bruises to his neck during the flight when he tried to resist the hijacker, who has refused to give his name to authorities, Sielaff said.

Turkish media said the hijacker first demanded to go to Hamburg, then asked to go to London instead. An EgyptAir official in Cairo said the pilot, Capt. Hazem Abadi, told the hijacker that the plane did not have enough fuel to reach London and headed for Hamburg instead.

Police blocked the plane's path after leading it to a remote part of the airport about a quarter-mile away from the terminal. Communicating with the suspect in English over the plane's radio, police persuaded him to come out and made the arrest 20 minutes after the flight landed.

As the 46 passengers recovered in an airport building before being taken off to hotels in the northern port city, police began combing the plane for the knife and brought in sniffer dogs to check that no explosives had been planted on board.

Â"It appears like an adventurer's move. He does not seem to know what he is doing,Â" Transport Minister Enis Oksuz told the NTV News television channel before the hijack ended.

Turkey stepped up security at its airports and introduced strict controls after a series of hijacks last year. No passengers were hurt in those incidents.