Reports
this week revealed that an El
Al Airlines flight was forced to divert and make an emergency landing in
Greece after a passenger allegedly made a mid-air attempt to gain entry to the
cockpit.
A statement issued
by El Al Airlines, Israel's
national carrier, indicates that Thursday’s flight LY2522, which originated in
Prague, Czech Republic made an emergency landing in Thessaloniki, Greece,
where local police removed the perpetrator from the plane in handcuffs.
"El Al has a
zero-tolerance policy for violence, and we shall continue to ensure the safety
of our passengers," the airline told The Jerusalem Post.
Security guards had detained the passenger onboard the aircraft after he attempted
to infiltrate the cockpit in-flight. Initial reports made no mention of his
possible motives.
The offending “violent
passenger” remains as yet unidentified, with Israeli news outlet N12 nebulously
describing the suspect only as "most likely an Arab".
According to Fox
Business, flight tracking website FlightAware showed that the plane was forced
to put down in Thessaloniki roughly two hours into its journey and remained
there for nearly two more hours before departing again. It eventually landed at
its final destination of Tel
Aviv on Thursday evening.
Nearly a year ago,
another El Al flight, bound from Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel
Aviv, Israel to Rome, Italy was forced to turn around above the Mediterranean
and make an emergency landing in Larnaca, Cyprus after smoke was reported
coming from inside the cockpit.
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