- ACCIDENT DETAILS
Date: November 23, 1996
Time: 1515
Location: Off Mitsamiouli, Comoros
Operator: Ethiopian Airlines
Flight #: 961
Route: Addis Ababa - Nairobi
AC Type: Boeing B-767-260ER
Registration: ET-AIZ
cn / ln: 23916/187
Aboard: 175   (passengers:163  crew:12)
Fatalities: 127   (passengers:117  crew:10)
Ground: 0
Summary: The aircraft was hijacked shortly after taking off from Ethiopia by three drunken escaped prisoners. They demanded to be flown to Australia, but wouldn't let the pilot stop to refuel. The plane eventually ran out of fuel and ditched 500 feet offshore of Le Galawa Beach on the island of Grand Comoros. When it was aparent the plane was out of fuel, the hijackers fought the pilot for control of the aircraft. In the last seconds aloft, the left wing tip struck the water and the plane crashed into the sea flipping at least once before breaking into several parts. The water was shallow but many passengers had inflated their safety vests which prevented them from swimming out from under the cabin and they drowned.
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