Thank goodness the hijacking of an Egyptair flight MS181 ended peacefully. The hijacker claimed to be wearing an explosives belt. The plane diverted to Larnaca, Cyprus. The hijacker demanded to speak to his ex-wife. The President of Cyprus said, “There’s always a woman involved.”
And that wasn’t the most awkward moment of the day.
Earlier today @QuinnEnglish tweeted to me and to One Mile at a Time (who covers it here) that apparently one of the passengers on the hijacked EgyptAir flight took a keepsake photo with the hijacker.
The man was one of the last to leave the plane and I can only imagine going through the ordeal. I’ve experience a lot in my travels but never anything like that. So I’m certainly not going to judge. Some may suggest it speaks to something in modern society. I just think going through something like that must be surreal.
Skyjackings were once common. Between 1961 and 1972 the US alone had 159 hijackings. The skies are in fact getting safer.
I read the article you linked to about the frequency of hijackings, and this sentence:
“Some flights even permitted passengers to pay their fares after takeoff, as if jets were merely commuter trains with wings”
reminded me of my first visit to the US (I grew up in Australia). I flew from NY to Washington DC, and was surprised to see the flight attendant walking down the aisle collecting fares from passengers, like it was a commuter train.
@Susan I remember paying onboard as a kid!
I think it’s awesome that this guy took a selfie. I love it when people show humor in stressful situations, and this is a fantastic example of this – so much better than running around scared.
This shows how soft and numb people have become. No real terrorist would allow a picture to be taken of them…complete moron. If this guy was a real threat, I’m pretty sure “selfie Steve” there would have been killed shortly after this photo was taken or before. Pretty sure he’d also be tabulated in the numbers of people killed taking “selfies” this year. When someone acts like this, it shows they’ve never had true stress in their lives and had to make difficult choices. Sad.
“OMG my flight’s just been hijacked by a Muslim wearing a suicide bomb vest . . . . But first, lemme take a selfie!!!”