Background
Ethiopian Airlines flight ET961 departed Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at 08:09 UTC on a scheduled flight to Abidjan, Ivory Coast via Nairobi, Kenya; Brazzaville, Congo; and Lagos, Nigeria.
Hijacking
Twenty minutes after takeoff, at about 08:29 UTC, a passenger stood up and ran up the aisle to the cockpit, followed by two others. While rushing, one man said, "Everybody should be seated, I have a bomb!" They opened the cockpit door, stormed in, and declared there were eleven hijackers on board. They beat the First Officer, forced him out, and grabbed a fire axe and fire extinguisher. They ordered the pilot-in-command to change direction to Australia. The pilot explained insufficient fuel and requested a refueling stop at Mombasa, which the hijackers refused, arguing that the inflight magazine stated the B767 could fly 11 hours without refueling. After passing Dar es Salaam, a hijacker ordered the pilot to fly away from the coast towards Australia and not descend below FL390. The pilot turned left towards the Comoros Islands. The lead hijacker sat in the first officer's seat, fiddling with controls, kicking the rudder, and drinking whisky. Despite the pilot's repeated fuel warnings, the hijackers persisted, and the leader continued interfering with controls, including pulling the reverse thrust lever randomly.
Fuel Exhaustion
As the flight neared the Comoros Islands, the pilot saw Moroni International Airport and circled 15-20 nm south. The LOW FUEL CAUTION activated. The pilot pleaded to land; hijackers refused and insisted on maintaining FL390. At about 11:41 UTC, the right engine ran down to windmilling speed. The pilot showed the warning to the hijacker, who then left the right seat to discuss with others. The captain addressed passengers over the microphone, stating, "...we have run out of fuel and we are losing one engine... we are expecting crash landing." The hijacker returned and hit the microphone from the pilot's hand. After the right engine failed, the pilot descended to increase speed, but the hijacker interfered, causing autopilot disconnection and erratic flight with airspeed varying between 216-336 kts. As the pilot regained control, the left engine failed. The hijacker repeatedly instructed not to descend and threatened to kill the pilot. The pilot replied, "I am already dead because I am flying an airplane without engine power."
Ditching
The first officer, earlier forced into the First Class cabin, went to the rear and saw passengers with life jackets, some already inflated. He and cabin crew helped deflate and re-inflate jackets and instructed on brace position. Less than two minutes before ditching, the first officer forced his way into the cockpit shouting, "let me help the pilot." After adjusting, he assisted as controls were heavy. The aircraft descended into the Indian Ocean with only standby instruments and Ram Air Turbine. Altimeter showed 150 feet, airspeed 200 kts. The crew turned left to parallel waves, but the aircraft brushed the water in a left-wing-low attitude, then held straight and level before breaking into four sections and coming to rest 500 meters off Le Galawa Beach.
Casualties
Of the 175 occupants, 6 crew members and 119 passengers were fatally injured. Six crew members and 38 passengers sustained serious injuries, 2 passengers minor injuries, and 4 passengers received no injury.