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Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 was a scheduled international flight serving the route Addis Ababa–Nairobi–Brazzaville–Lagos–Abidjan. On 23 November 1996, the aircraft serving the flight, a Boeing 767-200ER, was hijacked[1] en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi[2] by three Ethiopians seeking asylum in Australia.[3] The plane crash-landed in the Indian Ocean near Grande Comore, Comoros Islands, due to fuel exhaustion; 125 of the 175 passengers and crew on board, including the three hijackers, died. This is the first recorded instance of a ditching utilizing a wide-body aircraft.

Hijacking/Accident

Date: 23 November 1996

Summary: Hijacking leading to fuel exhaustion, subsequent ditching

Site: Grande Comore, Comoros
11°22'22?S 43°18'25?E

Aircraft

Aircraft type: Boeing 767-260ER

Operator: Ethiopian Airlines

IATA flight No: ET961

ICAO flight No: ETH961

Call sign: ETHIOPIAN 961

Registration: ET-AIZ

Flight origin: Bole International Airport
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

1st stopover: Jomo Kenyatta Int'l Airport Nairobi, Kenya

2nd stopover:Maya-Maya Airport
Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo

Last stopover: Murtala Mohammed Int'l Airport
Lagos, Nigeria

Destination: Port Bouet Airport
Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

Occupants: 175 (including 3 hijackers)

Passengers: 163 (including 3 hijackers)

Crew: 12

Fatalities: 125 (including 3 hijackers)

Injuries: 46

Survivors: 50