Statement by Ethiopian Airlines:
Our regular daily flight ET 604/18 March, B-777-200LR aircraft registration number ET-ANN on its way from Addis Ababa to Beijing, China diverted to Lahore, Pakistan in order to handle the case of one unruly passenger who was disturbing in the cabin.
Since the unruly passenger could not stop his disturbance, it was decided to offload him in the nearest station in the interest of flight safety and the comfort of the other passengers and in accordance with international regulation.
ET604 in Lahore – Photo Rizwan Younus
The flight landed in Lahore and the unruly passenger was taken to custody by Pakistani law enforcement forces and paramedical unit. The flight resumed its normal journey and landed in its destination Beijing, China.
While we thank our flight crew for their professional handling of their duty, We take this opportunity to apologize to all of our 247 passengers, who were onboard the flight, for the inconvenience caused to them by the disturbance of the unruly passenger and by the diversion of the flight.
According to the Chinese Media (CGTN)
A Chinese passenger stops ‘hijacker’ on Ethiopian flight
A Chinese national stopped a man from rushing into the cockpit on an Ethiopian flight from Addis Ababa to Beijing on Saturday.
The passenger, later identified as Cao Hongguo from the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, took the ET604 flight back to Beijing. Halfway into the journey, when he heard the cries for help from the flight attendants, Cao rushed to the first-class cabin and stopped a man who intended to break into the cockpit.
