Libyan passengers rioted aboard a chartered Egyptian airliner Wednesday and demanded that the plane fly to Libya in violation of U.N. sanctions, police said. But the pilot tricked them and landed in neighboring Tunisia.
A melee developed aboard teh plane, an MD-90, after takeoff from San'a, the capital of Yemen, en route to Tunis, Tunisia, police officials said.Airport officials in Cairo said the hijacking incident began with two masked passengers entering the cockpit and demanding to go to the Libyan capital Tripoli. Then, they said, a large group of other passengers joined in the demand.
None of the passengers or crew was reported injured, and it was unclear if the men who entered the cockpit had weapons or if the Libyan passengers took over the plane by force of numbers.
The plane landed in Jerba, a Tunisian island about 50 miles from Libya's northwest border.
The pilot contacted Egyptian authorities by radio and reported a large number of Libyan passengers had rioted and were demanding that he fly to Tripoli.