Ethiopian Refugee Wants UK Action Over Hacking

An Ethiopian refugee has urged police to investigate whether he had been hacked by his home government on British soil.

If taken up, Tadesse Kersmo's call could spark a diplomatically sensitive inquiry into whether Ethiopia's security services have been using high tech methods to attack their critics abroad — and whether a U.K. company has been equipping them for the task.

Speaking at a news conference organized by London-based Privacy International, Kersmo said Monday that he thought he was safe from snooping when he left Ethiopia for the United Kingdom in 2009.

"I was wrong," he said.

Kersmo said he realized something was amiss when confidential files kept on his computer began appearing online. When experts at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab, an Internet watchdog group, checked his machine, they found evidence it had been infected by FinSpy, a powerful espionage program distributed by the Britain-based Gamma Group.

Kersmo is the latest expatriate Ethiopian to find himself at the receiving end of powerful cyberattacks. Last year, U.S.-based opposition figure Berhanu Nega told The Associated that he and his colleagues were purging their hard drives for fear that they had been compromised. Last week, Citizen Lab reported that two Ethiopian journalists, one based in Belgium, the other in Alexandria, Virginia, had been targeted in electronic attacks.

Dina Mufti, a spokesman for the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, rejected any suggestion that his government was engaged in hacking, describing the claims as baseless.

In a formal complaint to Britain's National Crime Agency, Privacy International asked for an investigation into the cyberattack on Kersmo — and any involvement by Gamma.

The Crime Agency said Monday it was unable to confirm or deny whether an investigation had been opened into the attack. Gamma did not return a message seeking comment.

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Elias Meseret in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia contributed to this report.

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በእጅ ስልክ የተቀዳው ቪዲዮ ET702

የረዳት ፓይለቱ ሀይለመድህን እህት መልዕክት Message from co-pilot Hailemedin's Sister

በመጀመሪያ ይህን ጽሁፍ የምታነቡ ሰዎች በሙሉ የተዝረከረከ ከሆነባችሁ ይቅርታ እጠይቃለሁ። ከትናንት ከሰዐት በኋላ ጀምሮ እስካሁን ኢንተርኔትና ቴለቪዥን ላይ ያለማቋረጥ ተተክየ ስለቆየሁና በጥልቅ ሃዘን ስለተመታሁ አይምሮየ ትክክል ላይሆን ይችላል።
‘የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድን ወደ ሮም ይጓዝ የነበረ አውሮፕላን ጠልፎ ጄነቫ ላይ ያሳረፈው ረዳት አብራሪ እጁን ለስዊዝ ስጠ። ምክንያቱም ስዊዘርላንድ ውስጥ ጥገኝነት ለመጠየቅ ነው ብሏል።’ የሚለውን ዜና በርካታ የዜና ማሰራጫዎች ከየፊናቸው አስተያየት ጋር አቅርበውታል። የዜና ማሰራጫዎች ብቻ ሳይሆኑ የተለያዩ ወገኖች ያሻቸውን ብለዋል። የፖለቲካ ድርጅቶች የሰብዐዊ መብት ተሟጋቾችና እንደ አቤ ቶኪቻው ያሉ ቀልደኞች የየራሳቸውን ሃሳብ ለማስተላለፍ ተጠቅመውበታል። በጣም አሳዝኝ ነገር ነው። ሁሉም የየራሱን እምነት ለማስተላለፍ እንጂ እሱስ ምን ሆኖ ይሆን ብሎ አለማሰቡ ልብ ይሰብራል።
ወንድሜ ሃይለመድህን አበራ የሰዎችን ደህንነት አደጋ ላይ ለመጣል አይደለም እንስሳትን ለመጉዳት የሚፈልግ ሰው አይደልም። ደግሞም ያንን የጨነቀውን ያክል ከፈራው ነገር ለመሸሽ ሞከረ እንጂ ማንንም ባለመጉዳቱና ሃሳብ እንኳ እንዳልነበረው ምንም አይነት ማጥቂያ መሳርያ ባለመታጠቁ አሳይቷል። በሁሉም ዘንድ የሚታወቀው ለተቸገሩ በመድረስና ባዛኝነቱ ነው። ካገር ውጪ ሄዶ ለመኖር የሚፈልግ ሰው ቢሆን ለሱ በጣም ቀላል ነገር ነው። ከጥቂት ወራት በፊትንኳ ዩኤስ ኤ ሄዶ ነበር። ከ አስር ቀናት በላይንኳ መቆየት አልፈለገም። ዝም ብሎ ካገር መውጣት ቢፈልግ ከዛ የተሻለ አጋጣሚ አልነበረም። ደግሞም በኑሮ ደረጃ ውጪ ቢኖር ያን ያክል የሚያሻሽለው ነገር አይደለም። ምክንያቱም የገንዘብ ችግር የለበትም። ከራሱም አልፎ ለብዙ ሰዎች የሚተርፍ ገቢ ነበረው።
ከልጅነቱ ጀምሮ ጎበዝ ሳይሆን እጅግ በጣም ጎበዝ ጭንቅላት ያለው ወጣት ነው። አብዛኛዎቹን ክፍሎች ሁለት ሁለት እያለፈ አስራ ሰባት አመት ሳይሞላው ሀይስኩል ሲያጠናቅቅ የ አስራሁለተኛ መልቀቂያ ውጤቱ ሁሉም ኤ ነበር። የጀመረውን የ አርክቴክቸር ትምህርት ትቶ ወደ ፓይለትነት የገባው ለሙያው ካለው ፍቅር የተነሳ ነው። ለኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድም የተለየ ክብር አለው።
ሃይለመድህን ሁሉንም አስታዋሽ ቤተሰቡን የሚወድና ተጫዋች ሰው ነበር እስከ ቅርብ ጊዜ። ከቅርብ ጊዜ ወዲህ ግን ለኛ ያለውን ፍቅር ደህነታችንን በማረጋገጥና የሚያስፈልገንን ሁሉ በመታዘዝ ቢገልጽም ከዘመድ ወዳጆቹ ጋር መገናኘትና አቆመ። የወትሮው ጨዋታና ደስተኝነቱ ቀርቶ ብቸኝነትን የሚወድ ዝምተኛ ሆነ። ህይወቱ ደስታ የራቀው መሰለ። በሁኔታው ተደናግጠን ደጋግመን በመጠየቅ ያወቅነው ሊያጠቁት የሚከታተሉት ጠላቶች እንዳሉ እንደሚያምን ነው። ስልኩን እንደጠለፉት ያስባል፤ በላፕቶፑ ካሜራ ሳይቀር ያዩኛል ብሎ ስለሚሰጋ ካሜራውን ሳይሸፍን አይከፍተውም፤ ወጥቶ እስኪገባ ቤቱን ሲበረብሩ የቆዩ ስለሚመስለው ካሜራ ጠምዶ መሄድ ሁሉ ጀምሮ ነበር። ባጠቃላይ በታላቅ የመንፈስ ጭንቀት እየተሰቃየ ነው። የሚያሳዝነው ደግሞ ይህንን ጉዳቱን ለኛ ለቤተሰቡንኳ አብራርቶ አለመናገሩ ነው። ወንድሜ ለሰዎች እርዳታ ለመድረስና የሌሎች አዳኝ ለመሆን የማይታክት ሰውንጂ እንዲህ በሚያንገበግብ ስቃይ ውስጥንኳ ለራሱ አስቦ እርዳታን የሚጠይቅ ሰው አይደለም። ሁኔታውን በደበስባሳው በታወቀበት ጊዜንኳ የሚያስፈልገውን የህክምና በማቅረብ ስላልረዳነው ቤተሰቡ ሁሉ እንደግር ሳት ይከነክነዋል።እሱ ግን እንዲህ ባለ ጥልቅ የመንፈስ ጭንቀት ውስጥንኳ ለኛ አንድም ቀን ሳያስብ ቀርቶ አያውቅም።
ይህን የምታነቡ ወገኖች ሁሉ ዛሬ እኔ ይሄን ከምጽፍ እግዚአብሄር ምስክሬ ነው እሱ ወደነበረበት ጤናና ሁኔታ ተመልሶ እኔ ሞቼ ቢሆን እመርጣለሁ። ውሸት ከሆነ ይህንን በማድረግ የውሸቴን መልስ እንዲያሳየኝ አምላኬን እለምነዋለሁ። በኛ አገር መስሪያ ቤቶች የሰዎችን እውቀት ብቃትና ቁመና ሳይቀር ሲመዝኑ የዐይምሮ ጤንነት ሁኔታን አለመከታተላቸው እጅግ የሚያሳዝን ነገር ነው።
ወንድሜ ትናንት አውሮፕላኑ ውስጥ ከመግባቱ በፊት ምን አጋጥሞት ይሆን እነዛ የሚላቸው ሰዎች ሲመለስ ጠብቀው እንደሚገሉት ዝተውበት ያንን ፈርቶ ይሆን ወይም ፓይለቱ ከጠላቶቹ ጋር በመተባበር ሊይጠቃው እንደሚችል ብማመን ሰግቶ ይሆን ሲወጣ ራሱን ለመከላከል በሩን የዘጋው ከሁለቱ አንዱ ወይም ሁለቱም እንደሆነ አምናለሁ። አስቡት በዛች ቅጽበት አለሙን በሙሉ ሊያናጋ የሚችል ምንም አይነት ራሱን ሊከላከልበት የሚችል መሳርያ ሳይዝ ይህንን ድርጊት የሚያስፈጽም ምን ነገር ሊኖር ይችላል ስዊዘርላንድ ገነት አይደለችም። የዐይምሮ ህመም ሰለባ የሆኑ ሰዎችን ለዚያውም በማንም ላይ ምንም ጉዳት ባልፈጸሙበትና ሊፈጽሙም ባላሰቡበት ሁኔታ ወደስር ቤት እንዲወረወሩ ህግ የሚፈቅድ አይመስለኝም። ሃይለመድህን ለህይወቱ ሰግቶ ነበር። የሰው ልጅ ሊቋቋመው በማይችል የመንፈስ ጭንቀት ገሃዱና ሃሳባዊው አለም በተዘበራረቀበት የስቃይ አለም ውስጥ ብቻውን ሲሰቃይ ነው የቆየው። በተስተካከለ የዐይምሮ ጤንነት ላይ የሚገኝ ሰው ላይገባው ይችላል። እኔ ግን የሱን ግማሽ ባያክልም የተወሰነ ይህንን መሰል ችግር ስላለብኝ ህመሙን አውቀዋለሁ። ሁሌም በሳት እየተጠበሱ መኖር ማለት ነው
ወገኖች መልዕክቴን አንብባችሁ በምትችሉት ሁሉ ረዳት ፓይለት ሃይለመድህን አበራ ፍትህ አግኝቶ ወደ ነበረበት እንዲመለስ በመጣር እንድትተባበሩን መላ ቤተሰቡ በምታምኑት ሁሉ እንለምናችኋለን! እኛም የሚያስፈልገውን የህክምና እርዳታ አግኝቶ ወደ ቀድሞው ጤናው ከተመለሰ በኋላ ለዚች አገር ባለው አቅም ሁሉ እንዲያገለግል በማድረግ እንክሳለን!
እባካችሁ ይህን መልእክት በማስተላለፍ ተባበሩን!

የጥላሁን ገሰሰ የፌስ ቡክ አድናቂዎች ከ75,000 በላይ ሆኑ!

የጥላሁን ገሰሰ የፌስ ቡክ አድናቂዎች ክ75,000 በላይ ሆኑ። 

http://www.tilahungesesse.org/

አለም አቀፍ የዶ/ር ጥላሁን ገሰሰ የሃዘን

መግለጫ ፎርም ላይ ለመፈረም ከዚህ ይጫኑ

Co-pilot who threatened to crash Ethiopia Airlines plane before flying it to Geneva was 'in mourning for his dead uncle'

After six hours without any word of what was happening, the plane began circling, leaning one way then the other, at which point he was convinced they were about to crash.
He said: 'I was thinking : that’s it, we’re crashing into something. Looking down to the window I see a light, two, three, I can’t see what’s ahead.
'It’s still dark. We’re going fast, we’re flying over many houses now. And suddenly, under us, the airport. Just thinking again about this moment makes me shiver. We are landing. WE, are LANDING.
'Is this true? Is this a miracle? We touched the ground, and the plane eventually stopped completely in a bit away from the plane entrance to the terminal.
'I remember crying, while most of the people were applauding.'
He says they were then told about the co-pilot and warned that police would be boarding the plane shortly to evacuate them.
He added: 'We were checked and accompanied very kindly by the Swiss. There were sandwiches, hot chocolate, and free wifi.
'My mother was there, we went for a walk along the Leman lake and she cooked some good meal. The psychological impact is not negligible, I'm still in a state of shock.'
One of Abera's surviving uncles, Alemu Asmamaw, told the Associated Press that his nephew had been distressed over the death of another uncle.
Geneva prosecutor Olivier Jornot said the co-pilot will be charged with taking hostages, a crime punishable by up to 20 years.
Earlier today it was emerged that French fighter jets had to accompany a hijacked Ethiopian Airlines plane into Geneva airport because the Swiss air-force only work during regular office hours.
The Swiss pilots were alerted to the problem at 4.30am but are only operational in normal office hours - not before 8am.
A Swiss airforce spokesman Laurent Savary told AFP: 'Switzerland cannot intervene because its airbases are closed at night and on the weekend. It's a question of budget and staffing.'
The Boeing 767-300 aircraft with 202 passengers and crew on board had taken off from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, and landed in Geneva at about 6am local time with just 20 minutes of fuel remaining.
The plane circled around Geneva until the co-pilot, who had no criminal record and was declared medically sane, heard a direct response about his requests for asylum, it has been reported.
Geneva airport chief executive Robert Deillon told reporters that the co-pilot, took control of the plane when the pilot left the cockpit.
According to Sky News, passengers said the pilot repeatedly demanded the co-pilot open the cockpit door but the hijacker refused and threatened to crash the plane if the pilot carried on.
‘The pilot went to the toilet and he (the co-pilot) locked himself in the cockpit,’ Mr Deillon said.
The man 'wanted asylum in Switzerland',' he said. ‘That's the motivation of the hijacking.’
The hijacking began over Italy, Switzerland's southern neighbour, and two Italian fighter jets were scrambled to accompany the plane, Mr Deillon said.
The co-pilot himself alerted authorities to the plane's hijacking, officials added - though passengers on the plane were unaware it had been hijacked. After landing in Geneva, the co-pilot exited the cockpit using a rope and turned himself in to authorities.
Police escorted passengers one by one, with their hands above their heads, from the taxied plane to waiting vehicles.
Geneva prosecutor Olivier Jornot said Swiss federal authorities were investigating the hijacking and would press charges which could carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
Geneva airport was initially closed to other flights, but operations resumed around two hours after the hijacked plane landed.
‘We hope everything will return to normal in the afternoon,’ Mr Deillon added.
The flight apparently began emitting a 'hijacking code' as it flew over Sudan and this was picked up by aviation site Airlinereporter.com.
It tweeted in the early hours of Monday morning: 'Ethiopian Airlines’ Flight 702 Squawks “HiJacking” for Reasons Unknown.'
It reported that this beacon, known as a '7500', cannot come from a glitch.
The website said that the co-pilot kept the plane in the air over Switzerland and France until his asylum request was mentioned.
Ethiopian Airlines is owned by Ethiopia's government, which has faced persistent criticism over its rights record and alleged intolerance for political dissent.
Human Rights Watch says Ethiopia's human rights record 'has sharply deteriorated' over the years.
The rights group says authorities severely restrict basic rights of freedom of expression, association, and assembly.
The government has been accused of targeting journalists, opposition members, as well as the country's minority Muslim community.  

 

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Co-pilot hijacks Ethiopian Airlines plane, flies to Geneva, seeks asylum

(CNN) -- A co-pilot on an Ethiopian Airlines flight bound for Rome hijacked the airliner early Monday morning and flew it to Geneva, Switzerland, looking for asylum.

The man, an Ethiopian in his early 30s, was arrested when the plane landed at Geneva International Airport, police said. The 202 passengers and crew aboard the Boeing 767-300 were not harmed.

It was a welcome outcome from the last time an Ethiopian Airlines was hijacked.

In 1996, 125 people died after a hijacked Ethiopian Airlines crashed in the Indian Ocean after running out of fuel. In that case, the hijackers were seeking asylum in Australia.

In Monday's incident, Flight 702 had taken off from the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa and was headed to Rome, the airline said.

The co-pilot took control of the plane when the pilot went to the restroom, said Swiss police spokesman Jean-Philippe Brandt.

The co-pilot, who was not named, closed the fortified door, police said. Instead of Rome, he then steered the plane toward Geneva.

At one point, as the plane hovered over Geneva's airspace several times, he asked the control tower:

"And you have to give us lastly permission on board for asylum."

"Yes I know," the tower responded. "Sorry, but we are still waiting for the response. We are trying our best to get you the response, sir."

The surrender

Eventually, the plane landed at Geneva International Airport.

"I will be coming out via the window," the co-pilot told the control tower.

He then escaped through the cockpit window using a rope, and surrendered to police, Brandt said.

He was unarmed, authorities said.

"His act has been motivated by the fact that he feels threatened in his county and wants to make an asylum claim in Switzerland," Swiss police spokesman Philippe Grangean said.

The passengers were not threatened or put in danger, police said.

Ethiopian Airlines, in a statement, would only say the plane was "forced to proceed" to the airport.

During the incident, Geneva International Airport was shut down. It reopened later Monday morning.

While rare, a pilot hijacking an airline is not unheard of.

In 1998, an Air China captain, reportedly disgruntled with life in China, hijacked his passenger jet to Taiwan.

Plane hijacker, jailed in Cuba, seeks U.S. plea deal

'Air pirate' tries to hijack plane to Sochi

Despite today's hijacking, fond memories of flying Ethiopian Airlines

By Michael Hiltzik

February 17, 2014, 2:42 p.m.

Today's hijacking to Geneva of a Rome-bound Ethiopian Airlines jetliner brought back memories for us--not of hijackings of the past, but of this exceptional airline, which we flew all over Africa, often in in rather singular conditions, during the 1980s and early 1990s.

To get the most urgent news out of the way first, today's incident was resolved without injuries to any of the 202 passengers and crew about the Boeing 767. Reports are that a co-pilot locked his colleague out of the cockpit when the pilot took a bathroom break after the plane departed Addis Ababa. The hijacker sought asylum in Switzerland. He surrendered upon landing and is now in custody.

Africa hands (we served The Times out of Nairobi, Kenya, from 1988 through 1992) think fondly of Ethiopia Airlines as the best African airline, by a wide margin--in fact, better than many Western carriers we can board at LAX. Its customer service reps and cabin crews were unfailingly pleasant and, more important, its fleet and maintenance standards met first-world standards.

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Wherever you were flying in Africa, Ethiopian Air was the first choice; the only exception might be on a trip transiting between East and West Africa through Europe, when a flight on KLM, British Airways, or Swissair might be available. We're still in possession of the last few gilded tumblers from a set of six presented to Ethiopian's frequent fliers in 1991, in honor of its acquisition of Boeing 727s for its fleet.

The key to the aircraft's success was that, despite being a government-owned company, it hewed to capitalist standards of profit and loss. That was true during the regime of Marxist dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam, which ended in 1991, and during his rebel successor, Meles Zenawi, who died in 2012.

These governments plainly understood that a smoothly-functioning international airline was a magnet for desperately needed foreign exchange. That seems obvious, but it was a rule flagrantly violated by many other foreign regimes, whose leaders thought nothing of commandeering the national aircraft for personal travel, often on a whim. The worst and saddest case was Air Afrique, a West African carrier owned jointly by French airline UTA and a dozen Francophone countries, which was afflicted by rampant corruption and went bankrupt in 2002.

Ethiopian's efficiency was properly legendary. Its hub was the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, a lovely, temperate city nestled among hills covered with evergreens--though during the Mengistu years the visas required to leave the airport transit lounge were hard to come by, especially for journalists. You might have thought that the efficiency of this hub was threatened in 1991, when rebels surrounded Addis, Mengistu fled the country and widespread disorder threatened.

But no: the day after Mengistu's ouster, my flight from Nairobi into Addis was delayed by less than 30 minutes. I remember thinking that a snowstorm in Denver would have wreaked more damage to the entire U.S. air travel system than the deposing of the Ethiopian dictator did to Ethiopian Airlines' flight schedule. It still would.

That said, flights on Ethiopian could be on the wild side. during the Ethiopian civil war, several came under rebel attack or hijack attempts. The most spectacular was a 1996 hijacking that ended when the plane ran out of fuel and ditched in the Indian Ocean off Comoros, well-documented by tourists on the beach. The crash took the lives of 123 of the 175 passengers and crew, including a friend, the veteran African photojournalist Mohamed Amin.

During one flight to Addis from Axum, an ancient northern city that claims proudly to have been the home of the Queen of Sheba, most of my fellow passengers boarded with live chickens in hand, presents for family members in the capital suffering through a food shortage in the disorderly post-ouster period. The trussed-up fowl were deposited unceremoniously in baggage closets and compartments like so many overcoats and pocketbooks. Every time a new passenger boarded and stowed his luggage on top of them, the entire plane echoed with deafening squawks.

Then there was Ethiopian's attenuated route map; a cross-continental flight out of Addis might make four stops or more before landing in West Africa, making for a seemingly endless, exhausting trip. The original route of the 1996 flight that ended in the waters off Comoros was Bombay-Addis-Nairobi-Brazzaville (Congo)-Lagos (Nigeria)-Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire), which sounds typical.

Today's hijacking notwithstanding, Ethiopian is still a first-class airline. it claims to be turning record profits, although its financial results are unaudited, and it's the first African airline to fly the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. If you're looking for a sign that Africa's economy is joining the rest of the world, there it is.

http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-a-hijacking-20140217,0,4535793.story#ixzz2tetW89O3

how the hijacking of Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET702 played out online for the world to see

how the hijacking of Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET702 played out online for the world to see
When an Ethiopian Airlines passenger jet was hijacked over European airspace on Monday, anyone with a smartphone and a decent internet connection could have had a front row seat to the drama that was unfolding in the sky.

And that is exactly what happened around the globe, with reports of the hijacking and even detailed flight maps showing its altitude and exact location being posted on social media within minutes of the "Squawk 7500" hijack radio code being sent from the cockpit.

The Boeing 767-300's bizarre flight pattern was plotted live online on flightradar24.com, available for anyone to see.
hijack

The plane's flight path over Geneva airport.

The site showed the plane making multiple circles around Geneva airport, before finally landing at 6.02am, local time.

There, the co-pilot and alleged hijacker turned off the plane's engines, opened the cockpit window and lowered himself to the tarmac with a rope before seeking asylum, officials said.

Sydney man Jason Wood, an aviation photographer, learned of the hijacking on social media, and immediately tuned in to the Live ATC (Air Traffic Control) website.
There he could listen in real-time to the Geneva control tower communicating with the hijacker as he continued to circle the airport.

"There wasn't an awful lot of communication between the tower and the co-pilot, but there was a little bit, probably about 10-15 communications between the two," Mr Wood said.

"From the communications I was listening to, he [the co-pilot] sounded like he was trying to wait for some confirmation that his demands had been met before he landed, and obviously got the plane to a point where it nearly ran out of fuel."
The flight had taken off from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and was travelling to Rome with 202 passengers on board when the airliner's second-in-command, named by the Ethiopian government as Hailemedhin Abera Tegegn, 31, took control.

He had waited until his pilot left the cockpit to use the toilet to seize control of the plane about 3.30pm on Monday, Sydney time.

After locking the cockpit door, he initially told Italian air controllers that he needed fuel, but then activated a transponder to signal that the plane was being hijacked.

Online chatter began instantly.

"ET702 squawk 7500!," tweeted @AviationROI, along with the flight details and a map of its location.

As the plane headed for and circled Geneva, Queenslander Evan Davis (?@EvanD) was monitoring its progress.

"#ET702 appears to be picking up speed. Now around 450km/h. Still descending. Currently at 2125m #hijack," he tweeted.

"Fire trucks have been deployed at #Geneva airport. #ET702 #hijack."

Upon landing, the plane continued to a taxiway, where the co-pilot climbed out the window.

He ran towards security officers and identified himself as the hijacker.

He claimed that he was in danger in Ethiopia and requested asylum, the officials added.

There are many websites and smartphone apps, including Flightradar24.com, that allow users to track the exact location and details of planes as they travel across the globe.

Users can set up an alert if a certain incident, such as a hijacking, occurs.

Tim Kelly, from Crows Nest, said he had been a plane spotter since he was a child, but developments in technology had made it even more exciting.

"It is fascinating. Your iPhone now is basically a control tower. You can listen into air traffic control, watch the flights in real time, you can get the aircraft registration, the squawk code they're using," he said.

"The iPhone for me is the most exciting tool."

However, the availability of information publicly has created some concerns.

"When I've shown friends of mine the air traffic control app, and that you can listen into JFK [airport in New York] or Chicago, and then show them on my phone while we're listening, it does freak a lot of people out that this information is available for 99 cents in the app store."

Grahame Hutchison, a private pilot and aviation photographer, runs the website 16Right.com, which is named after the main runway at Sydney Airport and monitors air traffic over the Sydney area.

"All of this information is freely available out there and there are literally thousands of people around the world that monitor this stuff," Mr Hutchison said.

One of the attractions of monitoring the information was that it was occurring in real-time, he said.

"It could be as simple as tracking a relative or family member's flight," he said.

"Some of the military aircraft can appear there too, such as the aircraft that Tony Abbott gets around in and some of the politicians. It's just an interest in what these aircraft are doing."

As an aviation photographer, Mr Hutchison also uses the apps to determine where he should go if something of significance happens, he said.

"I think there are more and more people in general starting to use these sorts of apps who might have a mild interest in aviation," he said.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-incidents/all-in-plane-sight-how-the-hijacking-of-ethiopian-airlines-flight-et702-played-out-online-for-the-world-to-see-20140218-32xrk.html#ixzz2teZVJd7A

ET702 Status for Today Feb 17, 2014

ET702 Status for Today Feb 17, 2014

Who is Hailemedhin Abera Tegegn

 Who’s Ethiopian hijacker Hailemedhin Abera?

Who is Hailemedhin Abera Tegegn?
His close friends described him to HornAffairs as following:

Hailemedhin Abera Tegegn was born in 1983, now 31 years old.

He was born in in Zegie Island, which is found on Tana Lake, the source of Nile, in western Ethiopia.

Hailemedhin was raised in Bahirdar city, on the offshores of Lake Tana, at the center of city called “kebel zero arat”.

He attended school at Atse Sereke Dingle elementary school, then Bahirdar Secondary School in 2000/01.

Subsequently, he joined Addis Ababa University Architecture department, which he quit to join the state-monopoly Ethiopian Airlines.

According to Ethiopian government statement, Hailemedhin was employed in the airline company for the past five years. (There seems to be a few years gap unaccounted for, given his birth year, period of employment and year of high school graduation – even if we allot two years for pilot training school.)Swiss authorities detained hijacker - Ethiopian Airlines flight - Geneva's international airport

Hailemedhin is described by his high school friends as a quiet and reclusive man who rarely enjoyed social gatherings.

He was raised by a devotee Orthodox Christians family. Both of his parents are alive and residents of Bahirdar city.

His mother is a house-wife while the father is widely-known in the city as being engaged in usury(lending to money with high interest). However, the fact that he was not detained during a recent crackdown on usury triggered a rumor of having a cosy relationship with government officials among Bahirdar residents.

Most of our sources – acquainted with Hailemedhin – concurred that he was a man of good characters. He – as well as his seven brothers and sisters – are known in Bahirdar city as outstanding students. Two of his sisters are medical doctor and engineer.

Hailemedhin is not married but lives with his girlfriend in Addis Ababa – at an apartment nearby Imperial Hotel, in Addis Ababa. His girlfriend is a self-employed lady and running a small internet-cafe, according to one of his friends.

There was nothing to suggest that Hailemedhin had any prior plan of creating an international incident – according to the conversations he had with his close friends a day before he left Addis Ababa, which I can’t disclose to protect the anonymity of my sources.

[I will update and provide more details as soon as possible]

አቤት ዜና እንዴት ይቀያየራል?

አቤት ዜና እንዴት ይቀያየራል? ትናንት ኢንተርኔትን ያጨናንቀው የኢትዮጵያ ወርቅ በወርቅ መሆን ነበር፣ ዛሬ ደግሞ ከዳር ዳር የሞላው የ አውሮፕላን ጠለፋ ወሬ ነው። ነገስ?

የኛ ፀሎት ቸር ወሬ ያሰማን ነው። አሜን

 

Hailemedehin Abera Tagegn photo revealed

Hailemedehin Abera Tagegn revealed

Ethiopian Airlines hijacking: Why co-pilot might have taken extreme steps to leave

Repression, rigged elections and bans on leaving the country mean it's no surprise that a co-pilot wanted out, writes David Blair

Desperate migrants go to extreme lengths to leave their homelands, but only a select few resort to hijacking. The Ethiopian Airlines co-pilot who landed his plane in Geneva joins a club that previously consisted of nine Afghans who forced an airliner to fly to Stansted Airport in 2000.

In reality, the co-pilot's choice might not be as inexplicable as it sounds. At least 620,000 Ethiopians live abroad, including 10 per cent of all those with a university degree, according to the World Bank.

Ethiopians with marketable skills are highly likely to seek their fortunes abroad: the country's emigration rate is 30 per cent for doctors and 17 per cent for nurses. A qualified pilot would fall into the category of those most likely to leave.

Two key “push factors” lie behind this outflow: repression and poverty. Ethiopia is a de facto one-party state, dominated by a small autocratic elite. Under the previous prime minister, Meles Zenawi, elections were shamelessly rigged and the opposition simply closed down. Many Ethiopians believed that Mr Meles favoured his own Tigray-Tigrinya ethnic group, who comprise less than seven per cent of the population, for the most powerful and privileged positions in the land.

The new prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, took over when Mr Meles died in 2012. Although a less authoritarian figure, Mr Hailemariam has inherited a state which imposes stifling restrictions on political freedom.

The government trumpets the fact that Ethiopia has achieved economic growth of about 10 per cent every year for the last decade. But the benefits have yet to reach most of the country’s 90 million people. Ethiopia’s national income per head is only $400, making it one of the poorest countries in the world.
All this means that many skilled people do their utmost to leave. The government has made this difficult by imposing draconian restrictions on emigration. Many Ethiopians are simply banned from leaving the country.
Three years ago, 60 technicians working for Ethiopian Airlines were given jobs by other carriers based in the Gulf. Their employer simply passed their names to the Immigration and Nationality Affairs Department – and all were prevented from leaving the country.
The co-pilot who flew to Geneva might have had no legal avenue for leaving Ethiopia permanently. He appears to have decided that hijacking a plane was his only option, even if the price is spending time inside a Swiss jail.
Source: telegraph.co.u